Peter's childhood and youth

Born in 1672. The son of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina. The future emperor was surrounded by a whole staff of mothers and nannies and transferred to the care of the wet nurse. Natalya Kirillovna doted on her Petrushenka and zealously followed his every step.

The early death of Alexei Mikhailovich in 1676 greatly influenced the formation of the personality of Peter. Tom was not yet four years old. If his father were alive, Peter would certainly have received the same excellent education as his older brother Fedor. But the boy's first teacher was Nikita Moiseevich Zotov, in the past - an orderly clerk. It was under his leadership that at the age of five, as required by the old Russian custom, Peter sat down at the alphabet. He began to learn writing quite late - somewhere in the beginning of 1680 and never learned to write in a beautiful handwriting. As a teaching aid, Zotov used illustrations brought from abroad and called "German sheets". Pictures depicting various historical subjects gave the child an impetus for the development of fantasy and intelligence. The teacher introduced little Peter to Russian history with the help of drawings in the annals. In the future, the sovereign never forgot his teacher and treated him with unfailing warmth.

Having become king at the age of ten, Peter witnessed the archery riots and persecution of his mother and her loved ones. Relatives and friends were killed before his eyes. The result of the Streltsy rebellion was a political compromise: both Peter and his half-brother Ivan were elevated to the throne, and their elder sister Princess Sofya Alekseevna, the daughter of Alexei Mikhailovich from his first marriage to Maria Miloslavskaya, became the ruler under the young tsars. Since then, Peter and his mother were in disgrace and were forced to live not in the Kremlin Palace, but in the villages near Moscow: Preobrazhensky and Izmailovo. In Moscow, they appear only to participate in official ceremonies. It was this circumstance that deprived young Peter of the opportunity to receive an education corresponding to his status. But the lack of spiritual food was generously compensated by freedom. Peter himself came up with activities and entertainment for himself.

From early childhood, the boy began to be amused by toys and games of a military nature. The craving for such amusements led to the fact that bows, wooden guns and pistols were made for him in the court workshops, toy banners were made (there were records of all this in the account palace books). A whole “army” of his peers, who came from the families of the court servants, was involved in the royal games. In November 1683, young Peter began the formation of the Preobrazhensky Regiment from willing people. In this amusing regiment, he was not a sovereign, but a simple soldier who studied military affairs along with others. Peter spent days and nights with his amusing ones. They organized campaigns and carried out maneuvers; in 1685, an amusing fortress was erected on the Yauza River. Having grown up outside court etiquette, Peter united commoners and offspring of aristocratic families into one company. Subsequently, it was these people who formed the circle of companions devoted to Peter. A conscious desire to learn awakened in Petra much later. Self-education to some extent distracted him from military amusements, broadened his horizons and enriched his mind, which was very useful in further practical activities. Many of those who surrounded the maturing king were educated in the European manner, which contributed to his sympathy for everything foreign.

Rise to power

Princess Sofya Alekseevna understood that with the coming of age of Peter, her power would come to an end. In the summer of 1689, her comrades-in-arms spread a rumor that Tsar Peter decided to occupy the Kremlin with his “amusing” ones, kill the princess, Tsar Ivan’s brother, and seize the throne. Sophia's attempts to split the troops failed. Most of Streltsov obeyed the legitimate Tsar Peter, and his sister had to admit defeat. She went to the Trinity Monastery, but Peter ordered her to return to Moscow. Soon Sophia was imprisoned in the Novodevichy Convent.

Peter's brother, Tsar Ivan, actually transferred all power to him, although until his death in 1696 he continued to be the nominal co-ruler of Russia. However, at first, Peter himself took little part in the affairs of the state: instead of him, the boyars, close to the Naryshkin family, ruled.

The young tsar was much more attracted to sea amusements, and he left for Pereslavl-Zalessky and Arkhangelsk for a long time, where he participated in the construction and testing of ships.

However, approximately from 1695, the independent reign of Peter I began, marked by many glorious milestones. These are military campaigns that expanded the borders of Russia, and transformations in industry, or rather, its foundation. In all his undertakings, Peter I used the experience of Western European countries. This applied not only to industry and trade, but also to science, education and culture.

Peter's first transformations

The reforms of Peter I began with the introduction of foreign dress and the order to shave beards to everyone except the peasants and the clergy. Thus, initially, Russian society was divided into two unequal parts: for one (the nobility and the top of the urban population), the Europeanized culture implanted from above was intended, the other retained the traditional way of life.

In 1699, the calendar reform was also carried out. A printing house was set up in Amsterdam to publish secular books in Russian, and the first Russian order, St. Andrew the First-Called, was founded. The country was in dire need of its own qualified personnel, and the king ordered to send young men from noble families to study abroad. In 1701, the Navigation School was opened in Moscow. The reform of city government has also begun. After the death of Patriarch Adrian in 1700, no new patriarch was elected, and Peter created the Monastic Order to manage the church economy. Later, instead of the patriarch, a synodal government of the church was created, which lasted until 1917. Simultaneously with the first transformations, preparations were intensively made for a war with Sweden, for which a peace treaty with Turkey was previously signed.

Peter I also introduced the celebration of the New Year in Russia.

Management reform of Peter I

In 1711, setting out on the Prut campaign, Peter I founded the Governing Senate, which had the functions of the main body of executive, judicial and legislative power. Since 1717, the creation of collegiums began - the central bodies of sectoral management, founded in a fundamentally different way than the old Moscow orders. New authorities - executive, financial, judicial and control - were also created in the localities. In 1720, the General Regulations were issued - detailed instructions for organizing the work of new institutions. In 1722, Peter signed the Table of Ranks, which determined the order of organization of military and civil service and was in effect until 1917. Even earlier, in 1714, a Decree on uniform inheritance was issued, equalizing the rights of owners of estates and estates. This was important for the formation of the Russian nobility as a single full-fledged class. But the tax reform, begun in 1718, was of paramount importance for the social sphere. In Russia, a poll tax was introduced from males, for which regular population censuses (“audits of souls”) were carried out. During the reform, the social category of serfs was eliminated and the social status of some other categories of the population was clarified. In 1721, after the end of the Northern War, Russia was proclaimed an empire, and the Senate awarded Peter the titles "Great" and "Father of the Fatherland". Transformations in the economy

Peter I clearly understood the need to overcome the technical backwardness of Russia and in every possible way contributed to the development of Russian industry and trade, including foreign trade. Many merchants and industrialists enjoyed his patronage, among whom the Demidovs are most famous. Many new plants and factories were built, new branches of industry arose. However, its development in wartime conditions led to the priority development of heavy industries, which, after the end of the war, could no longer exist without state support. In fact, the enslaved position of the urban population, high taxes, the forcible closure of the Arkhangelsk port and some other government measures did not favor the development of foreign trade. In general, the exhausting war that lasted for 21 years, requiring large investments, received mainly through emergency taxes, led to the actual impoverishment of the country's population, mass escapes of peasants, and the ruin of merchants and industrialists.

Transformations of Peter I in the field of culture

The time of Peter I is the time of active penetration into Russian life of elements of secular Europeanized culture. Seculars began to appear educational establishments, founded the first Russian newspaper. Success in the service of Peter made the nobles dependent on education. By a special decree of the tsar, assemblies were introduced, representing a new form of communication between people for Russia. 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. The interior decoration of houses, the way of life, the composition of food, etc., have changed. Gradually, a different system of values, worldview, and aesthetic ideas took shape in the educated environment. The Academy of Sciences was founded in 1724 (opened in 1725).

The personal life of the king

Upon his return from the Great Embassy, ​​Peter I finally broke with his unloved first wife. Subsequently, he became friends with the captive Latvian Martha Skavronskaya (the future Empress Catherine I), whom he married in 1712.

On March 1, 1712, Peter I married Marta Samuilovna Skavronskaya, who converted to Orthodoxy and was called Ekaterina Alekseevna from that time.

Marta Skavronskaya's mother, a peasant woman, died early. Pastor Gluck took Marta Skavronskaya (as she was called then) to bring up. At first, Martha was married to a dragoon, but she did not become his wife, since the groom was urgently summoned to Riga. Upon the arrival of the Russians in Marienburg, she was taken as a prisoner. According to some sources, Martha was the daughter of a Livonian nobleman. According to others - a native of Sweden. The first statement is more reliable. When she was captured, B.P. took her in. Sheremetev, and A.D. took it from him or begged for it. Menshikov, the latter - Peter I. Since 1703, she became a favorite. Three years before their church marriage, in 1709, Peter I and Catherine had a daughter, Elizabeth. Martha took the name of Catherine, having converted to Orthodoxy, although she was called by the same name (Katerina Trubacheva) when she was with A.D. Menshikov. Kozlov Yu. Pages of the government of the Russian state - Yoshkar-Ola, 1990, p.145.

Marta Skavronskaya gave birth to several children to Peter I, of whom only daughters Anna and Elizabeth (future Empress Elizabeth Petrovna) survived. Peter, apparently, was very attached to his second wife and in 1724 crowned her with the imperial crown, intending to bequeath the throne to her. However, shortly before his death, he learned about his wife's infidelity with V. Mons. Nor did the relationship between the tsar and his son from his first marriage, Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich, who died under circumstances that were not fully clarified in Peter and Paul Fortress in 1718. Peter I himself died of a disease of the urinary organs, leaving no will. The emperor had a whole bunch of diseases, but uremia plagued him more than other ailments.

Descendants of Peter I

Children	Date of Birth	Date of death	Notes
With Evdokia Lopukhina
Alexey Petrovich	18.02.1690	26.06.1718	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	03.10.1691	14.05.1692	Alexander Petrovich died in 1692.
Paul	1693	1693	Born and died in 1693, which is why sometimes the existence of a third son from Evdokia Lopukhina is questioned
With Ekaterina
Ekaterina	1707	1708	Illegitimate; died in infancy
Anna Petrovna	07.02.1708	15.05.1728	In 1725 she married the German Duke Karl-Friedrich. She went to Kiel, where she gave birth to a son, Karl Peter Ulrich (later Russian emperor Peter III).
Elizaveta Petrovna	29.12.1709	05.01.1762	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	27.05.1715
margarita	03.09.1714	27.07.1715
Peter	29.10.1715	25.04.1719	He was considered the official heir to the crown from 06/26/1718 until his death
Paul	02.01.1717	03.01.1717
Natalia	31.08.1718	15.03.1725

The results of Peter's reforms

The most important result of Peter's reforms was to overcome the crisis of traditionalism by modernizing the country. Russia became a full member international relations pursuing an active foreign policy. Significantly increased the authority of Russia in the world, and Peter I himself became for many a model of the sovereign-reformer. Under Peter, the foundations of Russian national culture were laid. The tsar also created a system of administration and administrative-territorial division of the country, which was preserved for a long time. At the same time, violence was the main tool for carrying out reforms. Peter's reforms not only did not save the country from the previously established system social relations, embodied in serfdom, but, on the contrary, conserved and strengthened its institutions. This was the main contradiction of the Petrine reforms, the prerequisites for a future new crisis.

Having ascended the Russian throne in 1682 and remaining on it for 43 years, Peter 1 managed to bring a backward and patriarchal country into the ranks of European leaders. His role in the history of our Motherland is invaluable, and life is full of amazing events. Interesting facts about Peter 1 made up more than one volume of scientific research and filled the pages of numerous popular publications.

Emperor Peter the Great, who deserved this title due to the outstanding role he played in the history of Russia, was born on May 30 (June 9), 1672. The parents of the future emperor were Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, who ruled in those years, and his second wife, Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina. A very interesting fact about Peter 1 should immediately be noted: nature deprived all the previous children of his father of health, while he grew up strong and never knew illness. This even gave rise to evil tongues to question the paternity of Alexei Mikhailovich.

When the boy was 4 years old, his father died, and the empty throne was taken by his elder brother, the son of Alexei Mikhailovich from his first marriage with Maria Ilinichnaya Miloslavskaya ─ Fedor Alekseevich, who went down in national history as the sovereign of All Russia Fedor III.

Unhappy marriage

As a result of his accession, Peter's mother largely lost her influence at court and was forced, together with her son, to leave the capital, to go to the village of Preobrazhenskoye near Moscow. It was there that Peter I spent his childhood and youth, who, unlike the heirs of European thrones, early years surrounded by the most outstanding teachers of his time, he received his education, communicating with semi-literate uncles. However, the gap in knowledge, inevitable in such cases, was compensated by the abundance of his innate talents.

When, at the age of 17, Peter, having taken it as a habit to visit the German Quarter, started an affair with Anna Mons, his mother, in order to break the relationship she hated, forcibly married her son to the daughter of the devious Evdokia Lopukhina. This marriage, which the young people entered into under duress, turned out to be extremely unhappy, especially for Evdokia, whom Peter eventually ordered to be tonsured as a nun. Perhaps it was precisely the remorse of conscience that forced him to subsequently issue a decree forbidding the marriage of girls without their consent.

Peasant Woman Who Became Empress

Only the second wife of Peter 1, Catherine 1 (Ekaterina Alekseevna Mikhailova), was able to fully reach out to his heart. She began to be called that only after she converted to Orthodoxy in 1707, and from birth she was called Marta Skavronskaya. The empress owes her patronymic to the son of Peter 1 - Tsarevich Alexei, who took on the role of godfather during the sacrament. Peter himself came up with a new surname for her.

The exact place of her birth is not known. According to one version, it was a village on the territory of modern Latvia, according to another - Estonia. But in any case, Martha came from a simple peasant family, and only an unusually lively mind, natural beauty, and even chance allowed her to take a place next to the emperor of one of the most powerful powers in the world.

According to contemporaries, she was the only one who knew how to tenderly subdue the outbursts of her husband's unbridled anger. Moreover, Peter saw in her not only the object of his love desires, but also a wise and efficient assistant who sincerely wanted to come to his rescue in any difficult situation. She was the only woman to whom he turned for advice in solving the most important state affairs.

An image that has become a tradition

With regard to the growth of Peter 1, a certain stereotype was firmly established in our minds: according to generally accepted opinion, the sovereign was unusually tall. However, not everything is so simple, and even this seemingly indisputable statement may raise certain doubts.

According to data published in various popular publications, his height ranged from 204 to 220 cm. This is how he was presented in the famous film directed by Vladimir Petrov, who filmed the novel by the classic of Soviet literature Alexei Tolstoy. From the cinema halls, his image stepped onto the canvases of many artists. Nevertheless, a number of quite obvious facts make one doubt its reliability.

Apparent contradictions

Having visited the museums of the country, the expositions of which present personal items, clothes (48 sizes!) And the sovereign's shoes, it is easy to make sure that they would be impossible to use if the growth of Peter 1 was really so significant. They would just be small. The same idea is suggested by several of his surviving beds, on which, with a growth exceeding 2 m, one would have to sleep while sitting. By the way, authentic samples of the king's shoes allow us to determine the size of Peter 1's feet with absolute accuracy. So, it has been established that today he would buy shoes for himself ... size 39!

Another argument that indirectly refutes the generally accepted idea of ​​the growth of the king, can serve as a stuffed animal of his favorite horse Lisetta, presented in the St. Petersburg Zoological Museum. The horse was rather squat and would have been uncomfortable for a tall rider. And, finally, the last thing: could Peter 1 genetically achieve such a growth, if all of his ancestors, about whom there is fairly complete information, did not differ in special physical parameters?

Evolution and its laws

What gave rise to the legend of his unique growth? It has been scientifically proven that in the process of evolution over the past 300 years, people's height has increased by an average of 10-15 cm. This suggests that the sovereign was indeed much taller than those around him and was considered an unusually tall man, but not according to the current, but according to those long gone in the past, to the standards, when a height of 155 cm was considered quite normal. Today, the size of the feet of Peter 1, established according to shoe samples, leads to the conclusion that his height hardly exceeded 170-180 cm.

“But the king is not real!”

By the way, the emphasis that was made over the following centuries on the physical features of the sovereign was largely due to the legend of his substitution, which allegedly occurred during a trip abroad to the countries of Western Europe (1697 ─ 1698).

In those years, rumors stubbornly circulated, fueled by secret oppositionists, that, going on a trip, the sovereign looked like an ordinary young man of 26 years of age, who had a dense physique and growth slightly above average. A mole on the left cheek was usually mentioned as a special sign. He was also a fully educated person, filled with a truly Russian spirit.

These same witnesses claimed that after the two-year absence of the king (if it was him) it was completely impossible to recognize. He began to speak Russian poorly, and when writing he made gross mistakes. In addition, the former patriotism was replaced in him by contempt for everything Russian. He lost many of the skills he had before, and in return he acquired many new ones.

And finally, he changed dramatically in appearance. His height increased so much that he had to re-sew his entire wardrobe, and the mole on his left cheek disappeared without a trace. In general, when he returned to Moscow, he looked like a 40-year-old man, although by that time he was barely 28 years old.

Studying at the Dutch shipyards

There are many interesting facts about Peter 1 related to his activities in the creation of the Russian fleet. Having issued in October 1696 his famous decree “Sea ships to be”, he very quickly became convinced that, in addition to enthusiasm and financial investments, knowledge in the field of shipbuilding and navigation is required for the success of the business begun.

It was for this reason that, as part of the Russian embassy (but incognito), he went to Holland, which was then one of the leading maritime powers of the world. There, in the small port city of Saardam, Peter 1 took a course in carpentry and shipbuilding, quite reasonably reasoning that before demanding from others, one must learn the secrets of the craft himself.

So, in August 1697, at the shipyard, owned by the Dutch shipbuilder Linstr Rogge, a new worker, Pyotr Mikhailov, appeared unusually similar to the Russian Tsar in facial features and valiant posture. However, in those years, the portraits of the heads of state were not yet replicated in the media, and no one had suspicions, especially since the Dutch could hardly imagine a monarch in a work apron and with an ax in his hands.

Dutch acquisitions

This foreign voyage of the sovereign significantly enriched the palette of Russian life, since he tried to transplant much of what he had seen there on Russian soil. For example, Holland was exactly the country from where Peter 1 brought potatoes.

In addition, from this small state, washed by the North Sea, tobacco, coffee, tulip bulbs, as well as a huge set of surgical instruments came to Russia in those years. By the way, the idea to force subjects to shave their beards was also born by the sovereign during a visit to Holland.

Handyman

Among other interesting facts about Peter 1, it should be noted his addiction to a number of activities that are not typical for other august persons. Well-known, for example, his passion for turning. Until now, visitors to the St. Petersburg Museum "House of Peter I" can see the machine on which the sovereign himself turned various wooden crafts. He was also fond of medicine, showing particular interest in dentistry. It is known that with the help of tools brought from Holland, he often removed the bad teeth of his courtiers.

Hay, straw and a "medal for drunkenness"

A characteristic feature of the sovereign was his ability to make non-standard and sometimes completely unexpected decisions. So, for example, during drill training, it turned out that the soldiers, who came from the common people, did not distinguish “right” from “left” and, accordingly, could not keep up. Peter found a simple and witty way out of the situation: he ordered to tie a bundle of hay to the right leg of each soldier, and straw to the left. Now, instead of the previously incomprehensible command: “Right ─ left!” The sergeant-major shouted: “Hay is straw, hay is straw!” - and the system marched, minting a step in unison.

As you know, Peter 1 loved noisy feasts, but at the same time did not favor drunkards. To prevent this evil, he also found a very original solution. Everyone who was convicted of excessive drinking was hung around the neck at the police station with a special “medal” cast from cast iron and weighing at least 7 kg (and sometimes more). The drunkard had to wear this “award” for a week and could not take it off with his own hand, since it was connected to a metal collar fastened with a rivet in the manner of shackles.

“Hello, we are looking for talent!”

From time immemorial, counterfeiters have not been translated in Russia. They were caught and punished in the most sophisticated ways, to the point that molten silver was poured into their throats. The sovereign approached this problem with his usual pragmatism. He reasoned very sensibly that if an attacker is so gifted by nature that he is able to secretly mint coins that are indistinguishable from genuine ones, then it is a sin to destroy his talent.

By order of the king, all the counterfeiters caught were no longer killed or maimed, but sent to work at the mint (under escort, of course). Only during 1712, 13 people were “employed” by such craftsmen, which undoubtedly brought great benefits to Russia.

Beginning of a new era

An important step towards introducing Russia to the standards adopted in Europe was the introduction of the Julian calendar under Peter 1. The former chronology, originating from the creation of the world, became very inconvenient in the realities of life in the coming 18th century. In this regard, on December 15, 1699, the king issued a Decree, according to which the years began to be counted in accordance with the calendar generally accepted abroad, put into use by the Roman emperor Julius Caesar.

Thus, on January 1, Russia, together with the entire civilized world, entered not into the year 7208 from the Creation of the world, but into the year 1700 from the Nativity of Christ. At the same time, the Decree of Peter 1 was issued on the celebration of the New Year on the first day of January, and not in September, as it was before. One of the innovations was the custom of decorating houses with Christmas trees.

It is very difficult to talk briefly about Peter 1 and his amazing life. Multi-volume studies have been written about this man, but until now, scientists are discovering more and more new documents that make it possible to more fully present the picture of the legendary era, which bears the name of the greatest reformer, who, according to A.S. Pushkin, "raised Russia with an iron bridle."

Biography of Peter the Great deserves special attention. The fact is that it belongs to the group of Russian emperors who made a huge contribution to the history of the development of our country. This article tells about the life of a great man, about the role he played in the transformation of Russia. Also, this article can help you if you are going to do report or essay on the topic " Peter the First«.

Peter 1 (First, I)

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Also on my site there are a number of articles about Peter the Great. If you want to thoroughly study the history of this outstanding ruler, then please read the following articles from my website:

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Biography of Peter the 1st: Childhood

Born in 1672 in Moscow. His father was a Russian tsar, who, for his difficult temper, was nicknamed the Quietest. Alexei Mikhailovich had thirteen children from Maria Miloslavskaya, his first wife. Most of these children died in infancy. Mother Peter the Great, Natalya Naryshkina, loved her first child very much. At the age of four, Peter Alekseevich lost his father. After the death of the king, the struggle for the throne intensified. This war was waged by the Miloslavskys and the Naryshkins. As a result, the brother of little Peter Fyodor Alekseevich became the new king. It was he who played a huge role in the upbringing of the child, appointing Peter 1 as a teacher, Nikita Zotov. When Peter was ten years old, his brother died. Little Peter was crowned in the kingdom together with his brother Ivan. Thanks to this, both noble families that fought among themselves seemed to have come to a general compromise. Since Peter was too small, and his brother Ivan was almost always very ill, power passed to their sister Sophia.

Peter spent the rest of his childhood with his mother in Preobrazhensky. In this village, the future emperor studied maritime and military affairs, mathematics, visiting the German Quarter. Little Peter recruited two regiments from the children of the boyars, Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky. Then no one knew that children's amusements would play an important role in the life of the Russian emperor. A group of trusted persons soon formed around Pyotr Alekseevich. Among them was Menshikov, who served the tsar faithfully and faithfully all his life.

Biography of Peter the 1st: Ascension to the Throne

Peter I married in 1689 to the boyar daughter Evdokia Lopukhina. This marriage was largely concluded in order to please the mother, who wanted to show all political competitors and ill-wishers that Peter had grown up and could take power into his hands. In this year, Princess Sophia provoked a riot of archers. Despite this, Peter managed to quickly remove her from the throne. Sophia was sent to a monastery.

Natalya Naryshkina practically until 1694 ruled the state on behalf of the new king. In 1696, Peter's brother Tsar Ivan died. Now Peter I became the one and only tsar of Russia. Participates in his administration a large number of of people. These are his supporters, who help the young king, and mother's relatives. All this time, the autocrat spends so-called amusing battles in Preobrazhensky. The first campaign Peter I undertook in 1695. The purpose of the Azov campaign was to provide the country with access to the open sea, the elimination of the power of the Turks in the southern regions. However, this campaign was unsuccessful. It was then that Peter first realized that his victory depended only on whether he would bring his own fleet to Azov, which Russia did not have at that time. At the same time, a fleet was built in Voronezh very quickly, in which the autocrat was directly involved. Thanks to this act, Azov was taken a year later.

The tsar understood that, despite this, Russia was far from Europe in terms of technical production. On his initiative, the Great Embassy was sent to Holland, headed by Lefort and Golovin, as well as Voznitsyn. This embassy mainly consisted only of young boyars. Peter himself went to Holland incognito, acting as the sailor Mikhailov Peter. During the four months of his stay abroad, Mikhailov not only studied European shipbuilding, but also worked in Saardam on one of the ships. Then the embassy went to England, where the autocrat studied naval affairs in Depford. At that time, the Embassy was negotiating with European states to create a coalition against Turkey. However, they were afraid to contact Russia at all.

Only in 1698 did Peter I return to Moscow after learning about the Streltsy revolt. This uprising was crushed very quickly and harshly. Returning to the country, the king begins his most famous transformation. The first decree concerned appearance the boyars, who now had to shave off their beards and dress completely differently in a European way. For these demands, they began to consider him the Antichrist. Various transformations will take place almost the entire life of Peter Alekseevich.

It is worth noting that at the same time, having returned from abroad, the king disagrees with his wife Evdokia. She was sent to a monastery, and Peter I is again married to Marta Skavronskaya, who was a Latvian and was taken prisoner. At baptism, Martha received a new name. From Catherine, Peter I had a son, named Alexei.
In 1700, Peter I tried to buy the Baltic lands from King Charles XII. But he refuses, the war for access to the Baltic Sea begins. But some time before that, Peter I united with Denmark and Norway, Sweden and Saxony. The Northern War lasted more than twenty years. The decisive battle was the Battle of Poltava in 1709. It was won by Russian troops. As for the first victory at sea, here we are talking about the battle in Gangut. In 1714 the Russians conquered all of Finland.
In 1710 Russia was forced to go to war with Turkey. Peter lost it, because Russia was not ready to fight on two fronts. The peace of Adriopol, according to which Russia lost Azov, was signed in 1713.

Biography of Peter the 1st: Expeditions

The biography of Peter the Great tells that during the entire reign he organized a huge number of expeditions, for example, to the Caspian Sea and Central Asia, to Khiva. The son of Peter I died under unclear circumstances in 1718. In September 1721, the Northern War ended, the Nishtad Peace was signed by the parties. In November of the same year, Tsar Peter I was proclaimed the first Emperor of All Russia.

The Caspian was captured by Russia in 1722. Some time later Peter I signed a new decree that established the succession to the throne. Now the emperor himself had to appoint his successor. Not a single person could after that receive the throne by inheritance.

Two years later, the emperor declared Catherine the empress. This was done, first of all, with the intention of transferring the throne to her, since Peter had no male heirs after Alexei. Catherine bore the emperor a lot of children. However, only Elizabeth and Anna survived.

It is known that in 1724 there was a shipwreck in the Gulf of Finland. Peter 1, who witnessed this, tried to save people and threw himself into the icy water. It all ended with a rather severe cold. Peter's body could not stand such an autumn bath. Less than six months later, in January 1725, Peter I died in St. Petersburg. He was buried in the Peter and Paul Fortress.

Biography of Peter 1 still constantly replenished interesting facts from his life. It is impossible to describe this man in two pages. The biography of Peter 1 consists of several books written by a large number of authors.

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you simply must familiarize yourself with the biographies of the rulers of Russia on the main article of our site,
where a list of all the rulers is posted, from Rurik to Medvedev!

Peter I the Great (Peter Alekseevich; May 30 (June 9), 1672 - January 28 (February 8), 1725) - Tsar of Moscow from the Romanov dynasty (since 1682) and the first All-Russian Emperor (since 1721). In Russian historiography, he is considered one of the most prominent statesmen who determined the direction of Russia's development in the 18th century.

Peter was proclaimed king in 1682 at the age of 10, began to rule independently from 1689. 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 significant expansion of the territories of Russia in the Baltic region after the victory in the Great Northern War, which allowed him to take the title of the first emperor in 1721. Russian Empire.

After 4 years, Emperor Peter I died, but the state he created continued to expand rapidly throughout the 18th century.

Peter was born on the night of May 30 (June 9), 1672 in the Terem Palace of the Kremlin (in 7235 according to the then accepted chronology "from the creation of the world").

Father - Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich - had numerous offspring: Peter was the 14th 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 1676 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.

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.

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 the version that the dying Feodor Alekseevich handed over the “scepter” 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 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 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 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, through which Princess Sophia and those close to her told them how to behave and what to say during palace ceremonies, has been preserved.

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 famous Austrian fortress of 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.
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.

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 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 picked up the image Holy Mother of God 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 convulsive facial movements. On August 8, both queens, Natalya and Evdokia, arrived at the monastery, followed by “amusing” regiments with artillery.

On August 16, a letter came from Peter, 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.

The priority of Peter I's activity. the first years of autocracy was the continuation of the war with the Crimea. Since the 16th century, Muscovite Rus has been fighting the Crimean and Nogai Tatars for possession of the vast coastal lands of the Black and Azov Seas.

During this struggle, Russia clashed with the Ottoman Empire, patronizing the Tatars. One of the military strongholds on these lands was the Turkish fortress of Azov, located at the confluence of the Don River into the Sea of ​​Azov.

The first Azov campaign, which began in the spring of 1695, ended unsuccessfully in September of the same year due to the lack of a fleet and the unwillingness of the Russian army to operate far from supply bases. However, already in the 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, 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 did not yet have.

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.

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. 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.

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.

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, and not on the day of the autumn equinox, as was celebrated before.

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 August 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).

To enter the war, Russia had 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.

The plan of Charles XII was to smash the opponents one by one with a series of quick landing operations. 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.

The attempt to capture the fortress of Narva ended with the defeat of the Russian army. On November 30, 1700 (according to the new style), Charles XII with 8500 soldiers attacked the camp of Russian troops and completely defeated the 35,000 strong Russian army. Peter I himself left the troops for Novgorod 2 days before. Considering that Russia was sufficiently weakened, Charles XII went to Livonia in order to direct all his forces against the main, as it seemed to him, enemy, Augustus II.

However, Peter, having hastily reorganized the army according to the European model, resumed hostilities. Already in 1702 (October 11 (22)), Russia captured the Noteburg fortress (renamed Shlisselburg), and in the spring of 1703, the Nienschanz fortress at the mouth of the Neva.

Here, on May 16, 1703, the construction of St. Petersburg began, and the base of the Russian fleet, the Kronshlot fortress (later Kronstadt), was located on Kotlin Island. The exit to the Baltic Sea was broken. In 1704, Narva and Derpt were taken, Russia was firmly entrenched in the Eastern Baltic. On the offer to make peace, Peter I was refused.

After the deposition of Augustus II c. 1706 and his replacement by the Polish king Stanislav Leshchinsky, Charles XII began a fatal campaign against Russia for him. Having captured Minsk and Mogilev, the king did not dare to go to Smolensk. Enlisting the support of the Little Russian hetman Ivan Mazepa, Charles moved his troops south for food reasons and with the intention of strengthening the army with Mazepa's supporters.

On September 28, 1708, near the village of Lesnoy, the Swedish corps of Levengaupt, which was going to join the army of Charles XII from Livonia, was defeated by the Russian army under the command of Menshikov. 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 Poltava battle On June 27, 1709, the army of Charles XII was utterly defeated, the Swedish king with a handful of soldiers fled to Turkish possessions.

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 Russian landings on the Swedish coast in 1720 prompted Sweden to resume negotiations. On August 30 (September 10), 1721, the Peace of Nystadt was concluded between Russia and Sweden, 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.

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 friend Ekaterina Alekseevna, whom he ordered to be considered his wife and queen (even before the official wedding, which took place in 1712).

The army crossed the border of Moldova in June 1711, but already on July 20, 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 Andrianopol 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 1714, the Buchholz expedition south of the Irtysh founded Omsk, Ust-Kamenogorsk, Semipalatinsk and other fortresses. In 1716-17, a detachment of Bekovich-Cherkassky was sent to Central Asia with the aim of persuading the Khiva khan to citizenship and reconnaissance of 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 the expedition through Pacific Ocean to America (intent on establishing Russian colonies there), but he did not manage to carry out his plan.

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 June 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.

According to the Istanbul (Constantinople) Treaty 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 Istanbul Treaty 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.

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

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 1717-33, I.-G. Fokkerodt, at the request of Voltaire, 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 persons of the taxable class 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 landowners, a second revision increased the number of taxable souls to almost 6 million people. Russian nobles with families were considered to be up to 500 thousand; officials up to 200 thousand and clerics with families up to 300 thousand souls.

The inhabitants of the conquered regions, who were not under the general 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.

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

All 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 conduct of the Northern War, were carried out by force and often did not lead to the desired result. In addition to state reforms, at the first stage, extensive reforms were carried out to change the cultural way of life.

In 1704, Peter carried out a monetary reform, as a result of which the main monetary unit was not money, but a penny. From now on, it began to equal not ½ money, but 2 money, and this word first appeared on coins. At the same time, the fiat ruble was abolished, which had been a conditional monetary unit since the 15th century, used as a standard in exchange transactions.

In the second period, the reforms were more systematic and aimed at the internal arrangement of the state.

In general, Peter's reforms were aimed at strengthening the Russian state and familiarizing the ruling stratum with European culture while strengthening the absolute monarchy. By the end of the reign of Peter the Great, a powerful Russian empire was created, headed by the emperor, who had absolute power.

In the course of the reforms, the technical and economic backwardness of Russia from European states was overcome, access to the Baltic Sea was won, and transformations were carried out in all spheres of life in Russian society.

At the same time, the people's forces were extremely exhausted, the bureaucratic apparatus grew, the prerequisites (Decree of Succession) were created for the crisis of the supreme power, which led to the era of "palace coups".

Already on the third day, when Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich ordered to remove the “measure” from the prince, it turned out that the baby was quite large - 11 inches (48.9 cm) long and 3 inches (13.3 cm) wide.

As a child, Peter amazed people with the beauty and liveliness of his face and figure. Because of his height - 200 cm (6 feet 7 inches) - he stood out in the crowd by a whole head. At the same time, with such a large height, he wore size 38 shoes.

Surrounding people were frightened by very strong convulsive twitches of the face, especially in moments of anger and emotional excitement. These convulsive movements were attributed by contemporaries to childhood shock during the Streltsy riots or an attempted poisoning by Princess Sophia.

During a visit to Europe, Peter I frightened refined aristocrats with a rude manner of communication and simplicity of morals.

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 auspices 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 weak-willed 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. True reason 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 Skavronskaya, 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 gives birth to her first child, named Peter, the next 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 (ruled 1741-1762), and Anna's direct descendants ruled Russia after Elizabeth's death, from 1762 to 1917.

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 service nobility and guards regiments, became the first ruling Russian Empress Catherine I, but her reign was short-lived 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.

IN last years 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 opponents of the reforms aroused the hopes of returning the old order, 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 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.

In most history books, including some popular Internet resources, as a rule, a smaller number of children of Peter I are mentioned.

This is due to the fact that they have reached the age of maturity and left a certain mark in history, unlike other children who died in early childhood. According to other sources, Peter I had 14 children officially registered and mentioned on the genealogical tree of the Romanov dynasty.

In the last years of his reign, Peter was very ill (presumably, stone disease of the kidneys, 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;

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 27-28, 1725 to decide on the successor of Peter the Great.

Guards officers entered the meeting room, two guards regiments entered the square, and to 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. He was buried in the Cathedral of the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg.

In honor of Peter the Great, monuments were erected in various cities of Russia and Europe. The very first and most famous is the Bronze Horseman in St. Petersburg, created by the sculptor Etienne Maurice Falcone. Its manufacture and construction took more than 10 years. The sculpture of Peter by B. K. Rastrelli was created earlier than the Bronze Horseman, but was installed in front of the Mikhailovsky Castle later.

In 1912, during the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the founding of the Tula Arms Plant, a monument to Peter, as the founder of the plant, was opened on its territory. Subsequently, the monument was erected in front of the factory entrance.

The largest one was installed in 1997 in Moscow on the Moskva River by sculptor Zurab Tsereteli.

In 2007, a monument was erected in Astrakhan on the Volga embankment, and in 2008 in Sochi.

May 20, 2009 in the "Moscow City Children's Maritime Center named after. Peter the Great" erected a bust of Peter I c. within the framework of the Alley of Russian Glory project.
The famous court icon painter Simon Ushakov painted an image on a cypress board. Life-Giving Trinity and the Apostle Peter. After the death of Peter I, this icon was installed over the imperial tombstone.

Various natural objects are also associated with the name of Peter. So, until the end of the 20th century, an oak tree was preserved on Kamenny Island in St. Petersburg, according to legend, planted personally by Peter. On the site of his last feat near Lakhta, there was also a pine tree with a commemorative inscription. Now a new one has been planted in its place.

- Orders
* Order of Peter the Great - an award in 3 degrees, established by public organization, Academy of Defense Security and Law Enforcement Problems.
— Peter I c. art
In literature
* Tolstoy A.N., "Peter the Great (novel)" - the most famous novel about the life of Peter I, published in 1945.
* Yuri Pavlovich German - "Young Russia" - a novel
* A. S. Pushkin made a deep study of the life of Peter and made Peter the Great the hero of his poems "Poltava" and "The Bronze Horseman", as well as the novel "Arap of Peter the Great".
* Merezhkovsky D. S., "Peter and Alexei" - a novel.
* Anatoly Brusnikin - "The Ninth Spas"
* Yuri Tynyanov's story "The Wax Person" describes last days life of Peter I, vividly characterizes the era and the immediate environment of the emperor.
* A. Volkov's story "Two Brothers" - describes the life of various strata of society under Peter and Peter's attitude towards them.
In music
* "Peter the Great" (Pierre le Grand, 1790) - opera by Andre Grétry
* The Youth of Peter the Great (Das Petermannchen, 1794) - opera by Joseph Weigl
* "The Tsar-Carpenter, or the Dignity of a Woman" (1814) - Singspiel by K. A. Lichtenstein
* "Peter the Great, the Russian Tsar, or the Livonian Carpenter" (Pietro il Grande zar di tutte le Russie or Il falegname di Livonia, 1819) - opera by Gaetano Donizetti
* The Burgomaster of Saardam (Il borgomastro di Saardam, 1827) - opera by Gaetano Donizetti
* The Tsar and the Carpenter (Zar und Zimmermann, 1837) - operetta by Albert Lorzing
* The Northern Star (L’etoile du nord, 1854) is an opera by Giacomo Meyerbeer
* "Tobacco Captain" (1942) - operetta by V. V. Shcherbachev
* "Peter I" (1975) - opera by Andrei Petrov

In addition, in 1937-1938, Mikhail Bulgakov and Boris Asafiev worked on the libretto of the opera Peter the Great, which remained an unrealized project (the libretto was published in 1988).
In cinema
Peter I is a character in dozens of feature films.

In a letter to the French Ambassador to Russia, Louis XIV He spoke of Peter this way: “This sovereign reveals his aspirations by his concerns about preparing for military affairs and about the discipline of his troops, about training and enlightening his people, about attracting foreign officers and all kinds of capable people.

This course of action and the increase in power, which is the greatest in Europe, make him formidable to his neighbors and arouse very solid envy.

Moritz of Saxony called Peter the greatest man of his century

Westerners positively assessed the reforms of Peter the Great, thanks to which Russia became a great power and joined the European civilization.

The well-known historian S. M. Solovyov spoke of Peter in enthusiastic tones, attributing to him all the successes of Russia both in internal affairs and in foreign policy, showed the organic and historical readiness of the reforms.

P. N. Milyukov, in his works, develops the idea that the reforms were carried out by Peter spontaneously, from time to time, under the pressure of specific circumstances, without any logic and plan, they were "reforms without a reformer."

He also mentions that only "at the cost of ruining the country, Russia was elevated to the rank of a European power." According to Milyukov, during the reign of Peter, the population of Russia within the boundaries of 1695 was reduced due to incessant wars.

Platonov pays a lot of attention to the personality of Peter, highlighting his positive qualities: energy, seriousness, natural intelligence and talents, the desire to figure everything out on his own.

N. I. Pavlenko believed that the transformations of Peter the Great were a major step towards progress (albeit within the framework of feudalism). Outstanding Soviet historians, such as E. V. Tarle, N. N. Molchanov, and V. I. Buganov, agree with him in many respects, considering the reforms from the point of view of Marxist theory.

Voltaire wrote repeatedly about Peter. By the end of 1759 he published the first volume, and in April 1763 the second volume of "The History of the Russian Empire under Peter the Great" was published.

Voltaire defines the main value of Peter's reforms as the progress that the Russians have achieved in 50 years, other nations cannot achieve this even in 500. Peter I, his reforms, their significance became the object of the dispute between Voltaire and Rousseau.

N. M. Karamzin, recognizing this sovereign as the Great, severely criticizes Peter for his excessive passion for foreign countries, the desire to make Russia Holland. A sharp change in the "old" way of life and national traditions undertaken by the emperor, according to the historian, is not always justified.

As a result, Russian educated people "became citizens of the world, but ceased to be, in some cases, citizens of Russia."

V. O. Klyuchevsky thought that Peter was making history, but did not understand it. In order to protect the Fatherland from enemies, he devastated it more than any enemy ... After him, the state became stronger, and the people - poorer.

“All his transformative activity was guided by the thought of the necessity and omnipotence of imperious coercion; he hoped only by force to impose on the people the blessings he lacked. “Grief threatened the one who, at least secretly, even in a drunken mood, would think: “Does the king lead us to good, and are these torments in vain, will they not lead to the worst torments for many hundreds of years? But to think, even to feel anything other than humility was forbidden.”

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

According to R. Pipes, Kamensky, N. V. Anisimov, Peter's reforms were extremely controversial. Serf-owning methods and repressions led to an overstrain of the people's forces.

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

* Boris Chichibabin. Damn Peter (1972)
* Dmitry Merezhkovsky. Trilogy Christ and Antichrist. Peter and Alexei (novel).
* Friedrich Gorenstein. Tsar Peter and Alexei (drama).
* Alexey Tolstoy. Peter the Great (novel).