Peter I Alekseevich the Great. Born May 30 (June 9) 1672 - died January 28 (February 8) 1725. The last Tsar of All Russia (since 1682) and the first Emperor of All Russia (since 1721).

As a representative of the Romanov dynasty, Peter was proclaimed tsar at the age of 10, and began to rule independently from 1689. The formal co-ruler of Peter was his brother Ivan (until his death in 1696).

From a young age, showing an interest in science 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 his return from it, in 1698, Peter launched large-scale reforms of the Russian state and social order.

One of the main achievements of Peter was the solution of the task set in the 16th century: the expansion of the territories of Russia in the Baltic region after the victory in the Great Northern War, which allowed him to accept the title of Russian emperor in 1721.

In historical science and in public opinion from the end of the 18th century to the present, there are diametrically opposite assessments of both the personality of Peter I and his role in the history of Russia.

In official Russian historiography, Peter was considered one of the most prominent statesmen who determined the direction of Russia's development in the 18th century. However, many historians, including N.M. Karamzin, V.O.Klyuchevsky, P.N.Milyukov and others, expressed sharply critical assessments.

Peter I the Great (documentary)

Peter was born on the night of May 30 (June 9) 1672 (in 7180 according to the then accepted chronology "from the creation of the world"): "In the current year 180, May 30, for the prayers of the saints Father, God forgave Our Queen and the Great Princess Natalia Kirillovna, and gave birth to Us a son, the blessed Tsarevich and Grand Prince Peter Alekseevich of All Great and Small and White Russia, and his name day is June 29th ”.

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

The father - the king - had numerous offspring: Peter I was the 14th child, but the first from his second wife, Tsarina Natalia Naryshkina.

June 29, St. The apostles Peter and Paul the Tsarevich was baptized in the Chudov Monastery (according to other sources in the Church of Gregory of Neokesariyskiy, in Derbytsi), by Archpriest Andrey Savinov and named Peter. The reason why he received the name "Peter" is not clear, perhaps as a euphonic correspondence to the name of his older brother, since he was born on the same day. It was not found in either the Romanovs or the Naryshkins. The last representative of the Moscow dynasty of Rurikovich with this name was Pyotr Dmitrievich, who died in 1428.

After spending a year with the queen, he was given to be raised by nannies. In the 4th year of Peter's life, in 1676, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich died. The prince'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 mistakes, using a poor vocabulary. This was due to the fact that the then patriarch of Moscow, Joachim, in the framework of the struggle against "romanization" and "foreign influence" removed from the royal court the disciples of Simeon of Polotsk, who taught Peter's older brothers, and insisted that less educated clerks be engaged in teaching Peter N. M. Zotov and A. Nesterov.

In addition, Peter did not have the opportunity to get an education from a university graduate or from a high school teacher, since neither universities nor secondary schools existed in the Russian kingdom during Peter's childhood, and among the estates of Russian society only clerks, clerks and higher clergy were taught to read and write.

Clerks taught Peter to read and write from 1676 to 1680. Peter was able to compensate for the shortcomings of basic education with rich practical lessons.

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

Shooting riot of 1682. Princess Sophia Alekseevna

On April 27 (May 7), 1682, after 6 years of reign, the sickly Tsar Fedor III Alekseevich died. The question arose of who should inherit the throne: the sickly elder 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 Matveyev, who was summoned from exile, was declared a "great guardian."

Supporters found it difficult to support their challenger, who could not reign due to extremely poor health. The organizers of the actually palace coup announced the version of the dying Fyodor Alekseevich's handing over the "scepter" to his younger brother Peter, but no reliable evidence of this was presented.

The Miloslavskys, relatives of Tsarevich Ivan and by their mother, saw in the proclamation of Peter as tsar an infringement of their interests. Sagittarius, of whom there were more than 20 thousand in Moscow, have long shown discontent and willfulness. Apparently, incited by the Miloslavskys, on May 15 (25), 1682, they came out openly: with shouts that the Naryshkins had strangled Tsarevich Ivan, they moved to the Kremlin.

Natalya Kirillovna, hoping to calm the rioters, 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 Matveyev and Mikhail Dolgoruky were killed, then other supporters of Tsarina Natalia, including her two brothers Naryshkins.

On May 26, electives from the rifle 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 for the health of the two named tsars in the Assumption Cathedral. On June 25, he crowned them to the kingdom.

On May 29, the archers insisted that Princess Sophia Alekseevna take over the management of the state due to the young age of her brothers. Tsarina Natalya Kirillovna had to, together with her son Peter - the second tsar - retire from the courtyard to a palace near Moscow in the village of Preobrazhenskoye. In the Kremlin Armory, there is a double throne for young tsars with a small window in the back, through which Princess Sophia and those close to them told them how to behave and what to say during palace ceremonies.

Funny shelves

Peter spent all his free time away from the palace - in the villages of Vorobyov and Preobrazhensky. Every year his interest in military affairs increased. Peter dressed and armed his "funny" army, which consisted of peers in boyish games.

In 1685, his "amusing", dressed in foreign caftans, accompanied by drums, regimental formation marched through Moscow from Preobrazhenskoye to the village of Vorobyovo. Peter himself served as a drummer.

In 1686, 14-year-old Peter started artillery with his "amusing" ones. Fire master Fyodor Sommer showed the tsar grenade and firearms. 16 guns were delivered from the Pushkar Prikaz. To control the heavy weapons, the tsar took from the Konyushenny order adult servants who were eager for military affairs, who were dressed in uniforms of a foreign cut and identified as amusing cannons. The first to wear a foreign uniform was Sergei Bukhvostov. Subsequently, Peter ordered a bronze bust of this first Russian soldier, as he called Bukhvostov. The amusing regiment began to be called Preobrazhenskoye, after the place of its quartering - the village of Preobrazhenskoye near Moscow.

In Preobrazhensky, opposite the palace, on the banks of the Yauza, a "funny town" was built. During the construction of the fortress, Peter worked actively himself, helped to cut logs, install cannons.

Peter's created "The Most Hearing, the Most Drunken and the Most Extravagant Cathedral" - a parody of the Orthodox Church. The fortress itself was named Presburg, probably after the famous Austrian fortress of Presburg (now Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia), which he heard about from Captain Sommer.

At the same time, in 1686, the first amusing ships appeared near Preshburg on the Yauza - a large shnyak and a plow with boats. During these years, Peter became interested in all the sciences that were associated with military affairs. Under the guidance of the Dutchman Timmerman, he studied arithmetic, geometry, military sciences.

Once walking with Timmerman in the village of Izmailovo, Peter went to the Linen Yard, in the barn of which he found an English boat.

In 1688, he instructed the Dutchman Karsten Brandt to repair, arm and equip this boat, and then lower it to the Yauza River. However, the Yauza and Prosyan pond turned out to be cramped for the ship, so Peter went to Pereslavl-Zalessky, to Lake Pleshcheev, where he laid the first shipyard for the construction of ships.

There were already two "funny" regiments: Semyonovsky was added to the Preobrazhensky, located in the village of Semyonovskoye. Preschburg already looked like a real fortress. Knowledgeable and experienced people were needed to command regiments and study military science. But there were no such people among the Russian courtiers. So Peter appeared in the German settlement.

First marriage of Peter I

The German settlement was the closest "neighbor" of the village of Preobrazhenskoye, and Peter had been eyeing her life with curiosity 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 guest in the settlement, where he soon turned out to be a great admirer of a relaxed foreign life.

Peter lit a German pipe, started attending German parties with dancing and drinking, met Patrick Gordon, Franz Lefort - future associates of Peter, had an affair with Anna Mons... Peter's mother strongly opposed this.

To reason her 17-year-old son, Natalya Kirillovna decided to marry him to Evdokia Lopukhina, daughter is devious.

Peter did not contradict his mother, and on January 27, 1689, the wedding of the "younger" tsar was played. However, less than a month later, Peter left his wife and went to Lake Pleshcheyevo for several days.

From this marriage, Peter had two sons: the eldest, Alexei, was the heir to the throne until 1718, the youngest, Alexander, died in infancy.

Accession of Peter I

Peter's activity greatly disturbed Princess Sophia, who understood that when her half-brother came of age, she would have to part with power. At one time, the princess's supporters hatched a coronation plan, but Patriarch Joachim was categorically opposed.

The campaigns against the Crimean Tatars, carried out in 1687 and 1689 by the favorite of the princess, Prince Vasily Golitsyn, were unsuccessful, but were presented as large 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 performed 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 fetch crosses and banners. Unprepared for such an outcome of the case, Peter left the course.

On August 7, 1689, a decisive event took place unexpectedly for everyone. On this day, Princess Sophia ordered the head of the archers, Fyodor Shaklovite, to equip more of her people to the Kremlin, as if to accompany them to the Donskoy Monastery on a pilgrimage. At the same time, a rumor spread about a letter with the news that Tsar Peter decided at night to occupy the Kremlin with his "amusing" regiments, kill the princess, Tsar Ivan's brother, and seize power.

Shaklovity gathered the streltsy regiments to march in a "great assembly" to Preobrazhenskoye and beat all Peter's supporters for their intention to kill Princess Sophia. At the same time, three horsemen were sent to observe what was happening in Preobrazhenskoye with the task of immediately informing if Tsar Peter went somewhere alone or with regiments.

Peter's supporters among the archers sent two like-minded people to Preobrazhenskoye. After the report, Peter with a small retinue rode in alarm to the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. The consequence of the horrors of the shooters' performances was Peter's illness: with strong excitement, convulsive movements of his face began.

On August 8, both queens, Natalia and Evdokia, arrived at the monastery, followed by "amusing" regiments with artillery.

On August 16, a letter came from Peter that all the regiments sent chiefs and 10 privates to the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. Tsarevna Sophia strictly forbade the execution of this command 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 from Tsar Peter arrived - to go to all the regiments to the Trinity. Most of the troops obeyed the lawful 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 the power.

From 1689 he did not take part in the reign, although until his death on January 29 (February 8), 1696, he nominally continued to be a sovereign.

After the overthrow of Tsarevna Sophia, power passed into the hands of people rallied around Tsarina Natalya Kirillovna. She tried to accustom her son to government, entrusting him with private affairs, which Peter found boring.

The most important decisions (declaration of war, election of the Patriarch, etc.) were made without taking into account the opinion of the young tsar. This led to conflicts. For example, at the beginning of 1692, offended by the fact that, against his will, the Moscow government refused to renew the war with the Ottoman Empire, the tsar did not want to return from Pereyaslavl to meet the Persian ambassador, and the top officials of the government of Natalia Kirillovna (L.K. Naryshkin with B.A. Golitsyn) were forced to personally follow him.

On January 1, 1692, at the behest of Peter I in Preobrazhensky, NM Zotov's "ordination" to "all Yauza and all Kokui patriarchs" was the tsar's response to the appointment of Patriarch Adrian, committed against his will. After the death of Natalya Kirillovna, the tsar did not dismiss the government of L.K. Naryshkin - B.A.Golitsyn, formed by his mother, but he made sure that it strictly fulfilled his will.

Azov campaigns of 1695 and 1696

The priority of Peter I in the first years of autocracy was the continuation of the war with the Ottoman Empire and the Crimea. Peter I decided instead of the campaigns to the Crimea, undertaken during the reign of Princess Sophia, to strike at the Turkish fortress of Azov, located at the confluence of the Don River into the Sea of \u200b\u200bAzov.

The first Azov campaign, which began in the spring of 1695, ended unsuccessfully in September of the same year due to the lack of a fleet and the unwillingness of the Russian army to operate at a distance from the supply bases. However, already in the fall of 1695, preparations began for a new campaign. In Voronezh, the construction of a rowing Russian flotilla began.

In a short time, a flotilla of different ships was built, led by the 36-gun ship "Apostle Peter".

In May 1696, the 40,000-strong Russian army under the command of Generalissimo Shein again besieged Azov, only this time the Russian flotilla blocked the fortress from the sea. Peter I took part in the siege with the rank of captain on the gallery. 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 did not manage to get access to the Black Sea through the Kerch Strait: he remained under the control of the Ottoman Empire. Russia did not yet have the forces for a war with Turkey, as well as a full-fledged navy.

To finance the construction of the fleet, new types of taxes were introduced: the landowners were united in the so-called kumpanstvo of 10 thousand households, each of which had to build a ship with its own money. At this time, the first signs of dissatisfaction with Peter's activities appear. The conspiracy of Zikler, who was trying to organize a streltsy uprising, was revealed.

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 for Russia.

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

Great Embassy of 1697-1698

In March 1697, the Great Embassy was sent to Western Europe through Livonia, the main purpose of which was to find allies against the Ottoman Empire. General-Admiral F. Ya. Lefort, General F. A. Golovin, and the head of the Ambassadorial Office P. B. Voznitsyn were appointed great plenipotentiary ambassadors.

In total, the embassy included up to 250 people, among whom, under the name of the police officer of the Preobrazhensky regiment, Peter Mikhailov, was Tsar Peter I. For the first time, the Russian tsar took a trip outside his state.

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

The embassy recruited several hundred specialists in shipbuilding to Russia, 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, 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 after visiting the Palace of Westminster, Peter saw there "lawyers", that is, barristers, in their robes and wigs. He asked: "What kind of people are they and what are they doing here?" He was told: "These are all legalists, Your Majesty." “Lawyers! - Peter was surprised. - What are they for? There are only two lawyers in my whole kingdom, and then I suppose to hang one of them when I return home. "

True, having visited the English parliament incognito, where the speeches of the deputies before King William III were translated to him, the tsar said: "It's fun to hear when the sons of the patronymic to the king are clearly telling the truth, this should be learned from the British."

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

Peter in Russia

In July 1698, the Grand Embassy was interrupted by the news of a new Strelets 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 a one-time execution of about 800 archers (except those executed during the suppression of the riot), and subsequently several hundred more until the spring of 1699.

Princess Sophia was tonsured as a nun under the name of Susanna and sent to the Novodevichy Conventwhere 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 15 months of his stay abroad, Peter has seen a lot and learned a lot. After the return of the tsar on August 25, 1698, his transformative activities began, initially aimed at changing the external signs that distinguish the Old Slavic way of life from the Western European one.

In the Transfiguration Palace, Peter suddenly began to cut the beards of the nobles, and already on August 29, 1698, the famous decree "On wearing a German dress, on shaving beards and mustaches, on walking schismatics in the dress indicated for them" was issued, which banned wearing beards from September 1, 1698.

“I want to transform the secular goats, that is, citizens, and the clergy, that is, monks and priests. The first, so that without beards they should be like Europeans, and others, so that they, although with beards, in churches would teach parishioners Christian virtues as I have seen and heard pastors teaching in Germany..

The new 7208th year according to the Russian-Byzantine calendar ("from the creation of the world") became 1700th year according to the Julian calendar. Peter also introduced the celebration of the New Year on January 1, and not on the day of the autumnal equinox, as previously celebrated.

In his special decree it was written: “Because in Russia New Year is considered differently, from now on, stop fooling people and count the New Year everywhere from January 1. And as a sign of a good undertaking and fun, wish each other a Happy New Year, wishing well-being in matters and prosperity in the family. In honor of the New Year, decorate with fir trees, amuse children, sled from the mountains. And adults do not commit drunkenness and massacre - there are enough other days for that ".

Great Northern War 1700-1721

Kozhukhov's maneuvers (1694) showed Peter the advantage of the regiments of "foreign formation" over the archers. The Azov campaigns, in which four regular regiments participated (Preobrazhensky, Semyonovsky, Lefortovsky and Butyrsky regiments), finally convinced Peter of the poor suitability of the troops of the old organization.

Therefore, in 1698, the old army was disbanded, except for 4 regular regiments, which became the basis of the new army.

Preparing for war with Sweden, Peter ordered in 1699 to make a general recruitment and begin training recruits according to the model established by the Transfiguration and Semyonovites. At the same time, a large number of foreign officers were recruited.

The war was supposed to start with the siege of Narva, so the main focus was on the organization of the infantry. There was simply not enough time to create all the necessary military structure. There were legends about the tsar's impatience; he was impatient to enter the war and test his army in action. Management, combat support service, strong well-equipped rear still had to be created.

After returning from the Grand Embassy, \u200b\u200bthe tsar began to prepare for a war with Sweden for access to the Baltic Sea.

In 1699, the Northern Alliance was created against the Swedish king Charles XII, which, in addition to Russia, included Denmark, Saxony and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, led by the Saxon Elector and the Polish king Augustus II. The driving force of the alliance was the desire of August II to take Livland from Sweden. For help, he promised Russia the return of the lands previously owned by the Russians (Ingermanlandia and Karelia).

For Russia to enter the war, it was necessary to conclude peace with the Ottoman Empire. After reaching an armistice with the Turkish Sultan for a period of 30 years Russia on August 19, 1700 declared war on Sweden under the pretext of revenge for the insult shown to Tsar Peter in Riga.

In turn, Charles XII's plan was to defeat the opponents one by one. Soon after the bombing of Copenhagen, Denmark withdrew from the war on August 8, 1700, even before Russia entered it. The attempts of August II to capture Riga ended unsuccessfully. After that, Charles XII turned against Russia.

The beginning of the war for Peter was discouraging: the newly recruited army, entrusted to the Saxon Field Marshal Duke de Croa, was defeated near Narva on November 19 (30), 1700. This defeat showed that everything had to start from the very beginning.

Considering that Russia was weakened enough, Charles XII left for Livonia to direct all his forces against August II.

However, Peter, continuing the reforms of the army on the European model, resumed hostilities. Already in the fall of 1702, in the presence of the tsar, the Russian army captured the Noteburg fortress (renamed Shlisselburg), in the spring of 1703 - the Nyenskans fortress at the mouth of the Neva.

On May 10 (21), 1703, for the bold seizure of two Swedish ships at the mouth of the Neva, Pyotr (at that time he held the rank of captain of the Bombardier company of the Preobrazhensky Life Guards Regiment) received an approved order of St. Andrew the First-Called.

Here On May 16 (27), 1703, the construction of St. Petersburg began, and on the island of Kotlin the base of the Russian fleet was located - the fortress of Kronshlot (later Kronstadt). The exit to the Baltic Sea was broken.

In 1704, after the capture of Dorpat and Narva, Russia established itself in the Eastern Baltic. On the offer to conclude peace, Peter I was refused. After the deposition of August II in 1706 and his replacement by the Polish king Stanislav Leszczynski, Charles XII began his fateful campaign against Russia.

Having passed the territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the king did not dare to continue the attack on Smolensk. Enlisting the support of the Little Russian hetman Ivan MazepaKarl moved his troops south for food reasons and with the intention of strengthening the army with Mazepa's supporters. In the battle of Lesnaya on September 28 (October 9), 1708, Peter personally led the corvolant and defeated the Swedish corps of Levengaupt, which was marching to join the army of Charles XII from Livonia. The Swedish army lost reinforcements and a convoy with military supplies. Peter later celebrated the anniversary of this battle as a turning point in the Northern War.

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

In 1710 Turkey intervened in the war. After the defeat in the Prut campaign in 1711, Russia returned the 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 Swedish domination at sea, the Great Northern War dragged on. The Baltic Fleet was just being created by Russia, but managed to win the first victory in the Battle of Gangut in the summer of 1714.

In 1716, Peter led the combined fleet from Russia, England, Denmark and Holland, but due to disagreements in the Allied camp, it was not possible to organize an attack on Sweden.

As the Baltic Fleet of Russia 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 Eleanor resumed the war, hoping for help from England.

The devastating Russian landings on the Swedish coast in 1720 pushed Sweden to resume negotiations. August 30 (September 10) 1721 between Russia and Sweden was concluded Nystadt worldwho ended the 21-year war.

Russia got access to the Baltic Sea, annexed the territory of Ingria, part of Karelia, Estonia and Livonia. Russia became a great European power, to commemorate October 22 (November 2) 1721 Peter, at the request of the senators, took the title of Father of the Fatherland, Emperor of All Russia, Peter the Great: "... we thought, with the butt of the ancients, especially the Roman and Greek peoples, the daring to perceive, on the day of the celebration and the announcement of the glorious and prosperous peace concluded by these in the century. The works of all Russia, after reading the treatise thereof in the church, according to our With all the most grateful thanks for the intercession of this world, to bring my petition to you publicly, so that you deign to accept from us, as if from your faithful subjects, in thanksgiving the title of Father of the Fatherland, Emperor of All Russia, Peter the Great, as is usual from the Roman Senate for the noble deeds of emperors such titles they were publicly presented as a gift and signed on statutes for the memory of eternal birth " (Petition of senators to Tsar Peter I. October 22, 1721).

Russian-Turkish War 1710-1713. Prut campaign

After the defeat in the Battle of Poltava, the Swedish king Charles XII took refuge in the Ottoman Empire, the city of Bender. Peter I signed an agreement with Turkey to expel Charles XII from Turkish territory, but then the Swedish king was allowed to stay and pose a threat to the southern border of Russia with the help of a part of the Ukrainian Cossacks and Crimean Tatars.

Seeking the expulsion of Charles XII, Peter I began to threaten war with Turkey, but in response on November 20, 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 \u200b\u200bAzov.

The war from Turkey was limited to the winter raid of the Crimean Tatars, vassals of the Ottoman Empire, to Ukraine. Russia waged a 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.

6 (17) March 1711 Peter I left for the troops from Moscow with a faithful friend Ekaterina Alekseevna, whom he commanded 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 the Azov to Turkey and lost access to the Sea of \u200b\u200bAzov.

Since August 1711, there have been no hostilities, although in the process of negotiating the final treaty, Turkey several times threatened to resume the war. Only in June 1713 was the Adrianople Peace Treaty concluded, which generally confirmed the terms of the Prut Agreement. Russia got the opportunity to continue the Northern War without a 2nd front, although it lost the conquests of the Azov campaigns.

The expansion of Russia to the east under Peter I did not stop. In 1716, Buchholz's expedition founded Omsk at the confluence of the Irtysh and Omi., upstream of the Irtysh: Ust-Kamenogorsk, Semipalatinsk and other fortresses.

In 1716-1717, a detachment of Bekovich-Cherkassky was sent to Central Asia with the aim of persuading the Khiva Khan to become citizens and scout the way to India. However, the Russian detachment was destroyed by the khan. During the reign of Peter I, Kamchatka was annexed to Russia. Peter planned an expedition across the Pacific Ocean to America (intending to establish Russian colonies there), but did not manage to carry out his plan.

Caspian campaign 1722-1723

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

On July 18, 1722, after seeking help from the son of the Persian shah Tohmas Mirza, a 22,000-strong Russian detachment sailed from Astrakhan across the Caspian Sea. Derbent surrendered in August, after which the Russians returned to Astrakhan due to problems with provisions.

In the next 1723 the western coast of the Caspian Sea was conquered with the fortresses of Baku, Rasht, Astrabad. Further progress was stopped by the threat of the Ottoman Empire entering the war, which was capturing the western and central Transcaucasia.

On September 12, 1723, the Petersburg Treaty with Persia was signed, 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 invalid.

Under the Treaty of Constantinople of June 12, 1724, Turkey recognized all Russia's acquisitions in the western part of the Caspian Sea and renounced further claims to Persia. The junction of the borders between Russia, Turkey and Persia was established at the confluence of the Araks and Kura rivers. In Persia, the turmoil continued, and Turkey challenged the provisions of the Treaty of Constantinople before the border was precisely established. It should be noted that soon after the death of Peter, these possessions were lost due to the high losses of garrisons from diseases, and, in the opinion of Tsarina Anna Ioannovna, the hopelessness of the region.

Russian Empire under Peter I

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

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

Secretary of the Prussian Embassy in Russia in 1717-1733, I.-G. Fokkerodt, at the request of the one 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 him, the number of taxable people was 5 million 198 thousand people, from where the number of peasants and townspeople, including females, was estimated at about 10 million.

Many souls were hidden by the landowners, a second revision increased the number of taxable souls to almost 6 million people.

Russian noblemen with families were counted up to 500 thousand, officials up to 200 thousand and clergymen with families up to 300 thousand souls.

Residents of the subjugated regions, who were not under the universal 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 counted from 700 to 800 thousand souls. The number of Siberian peoples was unknown, but Fokkerodt put it down to a million people.

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

According to the calculations of the Soviet historian Yaroslav Vodarsky, the number of men and male children increased from 1678 to 1719 from 5.6 to 7.8 million. Thus, taking the number of women approximately equal to the number of men, the total 11.2 to 15.6 million

Reforms of Peter I

All internal state activities of Peter can be conditionally divided into two periods: 1695-1715 and 1715-1725.

The peculiarity of the first stage was haste and not always well thought out character, which was explained by the conduct of the Northern War. The reforms were aimed primarily at raising funds for the war, were carried out by force and often did not lead to the desired result. In addition to state reforms, at the first stage, extensive reforms were carried out with the aim of modernizing the way of life. In the second period, the reforms were more systematic.

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

Peter carried out a reform of state administration, transformations in the army, a navy was created, a reform of church administration in the spirit of Caesaropapism was carried out, aimed at eliminating the church jurisdiction autonomous from the state and subordinating the Russian church hierarchy to the emperor.

Also, a financial reform was carried out, measures were taken to develop industry and trade.

After returning from the Grand Embassy, \u200b\u200bPeter I fought against the outward manifestations of an "outdated" way of life (the ban on beards is best known), but no less paid attention to the introduction of the nobility to education and secular Europeanized culture. Secular educational institutions began to appear, the first Russian newspaper was founded, and many books were translated into Russian. Success in the service Peter made for the nobility dependent on education.

Peter was clearly aware of the need for enlightenment, and took a number of decisive measures to this end.

On January 14 (25), 1701, a school of mathematical and navigational sciences was opened in Moscow.

In 1701-1721, artillery, engineering and medical schools were opened in Moscow, an engineering school and a maritime academy in St. Petersburg, mining schools at the Olonets and Ural factories.

The first gymnasium in Russia was opened in 1705.

The goals of mass education were supposed to serve the digital schools created by the decree of 1714 in provincial cities, designed to "teach children of every rank to read and write, digital and geometry."

It was supposed 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 from 1721 to train priests.

By decrees of Peter, compulsory training of nobles and clergy was introduced, but a similar measure for the urban population met with fierce resistance and was canceled.

Peter's attempt to create an all-estates elementary school failed (the creation of a network of schools after his death ceased, most of the digital schools under his successors were re-profiled into estate schools for training clergy), but nevertheless, in his reign, the foundations were laid for the spread of education in Russia.

Peter created new printing houses, in which 1312 titles of books were printed in 1700-1725 (twice as many as in the entire previous history of Russian typography). Thanks to the rise of book printing, paper consumption increased from 4,000-8,000 sheets at the end of the 17th century to 50,000 sheets in 1719.

There have been changes in the Russian language, which includes 4.5 thousand new words borrowed from European languages.

In 1724, Peter approved the charter of the organized Academy of Sciences (opened a few months after his death).

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

The reforms carried out by Peter I affected not only politics, economics, but also art. Peter invited foreign artists to Russia and at the same time sent talented young people to study "arts" 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 to write names in petitions and other documents in full instead of derogatory half names (Ivashka, Senka, etc.), do not fall on your knees in front of the tsar, a hat in winter in the cold in front of the house where the king is, do not shoot. He explained the need for these innovations: "Less baseness, more zeal for service and loyalty to me and the state - this honor is characteristic of the king ...".

Peter tried to change the position of women in Russian society. He, by special decrees (1700, 1702 and 1724), prohibited the forced extradition of marriage and marriage.

It was prescribed that there should be no less than six weeks between the betrothal and the wedding, "So that the bride and groom can recognize each other"... If during this time, it was said in the decree, "The bridegroom will not want to take the bride, or the bride will not want to marry the groom", no matter how much parents insist on it, "In that there is freedom".

Since 1702, the bride herself (and not only her relatives) was given the formal right to terminate the betrothal and upset the agreed marriage, and neither of the parties had the right to "beat the forehead for a penalty."

Legislative regulations 1696-1704 on public celebrations, it was mandatory for all Russians, including the "female", to participate in celebrations and celebrations.

From the "old" in the structure of the nobility under Peter, the former enslavement of the service class remained unchanged through the personal service of each service person to the state. But in this enslavement its form has changed somewhat. They were now obliged to serve in the regular regiments and in the navy, as well as in the civil service in all those administrative and judicial institutions that were transformed from the old and re-emerged.

The decree on single inheritance of 1714 regulated the legal status of the nobility and consolidated the legal merger of such forms of land ownership as patrimony and estates.

The peasants from the reign of Peter I began to be divided into serfs (landowners), monastic and state peasants. All three categories were recorded in revision tales and taxed with a poll tax.

Since 1724, the proprietor peasants could leave their villages to earn money and for other needs only with the written permission of the master, attested by the zemstvo commissar and colonel of the regiment that was stationed in the area. Thus, the landlord's power over the personality of the peasants received an even greater opportunity to strengthen, taking into its unaccountable disposal both the personality and the property of a private peasant. This new state of the rural worker receives from that time the name "serf" or "revisionist" soul.

In general, Peter's reforms were aimed at strengthening the state and introducing the elite to European culture, while strengthening absolutism. In the course of the reforms, the technical and economic lag of Russia from a number of other European states was overcome, access to the Baltic Sea was conquered, and reforms were carried out in many spheres of the life of Russian society.

Gradually, among the nobility, a different system of values, perception of the world, aesthetic ideas took shape, which radically differed from the values \u200b\u200band worldview of most representatives of other classes. At the same time, the forces of the people were extremely exhausted, the prerequisites (the Decree on succession to the throne) were created for the crisis of the supreme power, which led to the "era of palace coups."

Having set himself the goal of equipping the economy with the best Western production technologies, Peter reorganized all sectors of the national economy.

During the Great Embassy, \u200b\u200bthe tsar studied various aspects of European life, including the technical one. He mastered the foundations of the then dominant economic theory - mercantilism.

The mercantilists based their economic doctrine on two principles: first, each nation, in order not to become impoverished, must produce whatever it needs, without resorting to the help of other people's labor, the labor of other peoples; second, every nation, in order to get rich, must export manufactured products from its country as much as possible and import foreign products as little as possible.

Under Peter, the development of geological exploration begins, thanks to which deposits of metal ore are found in the Urals. In the Urals alone, at least 27 metallurgical plants were built under Peter. Gunpowder factories, sawmills, glass factories were founded in Moscow, Tula, St. Petersburg. In Astrakhan, Samara, Krasnoyarsk, the production of potash, sulfur, saltpeter was established, sailing, linen and cloth manufactories were created. This made it possible to start phasing out imports.

By the end of the reign of Peter I, there were already 233 factories, including more than 90 large factories built during his reign. The largest were shipyards (only the St. Petersburg shipyard employed 3.5 thousand people), sailing factories and mining and metallurgical plants (9 Ural factories employed 25 thousand workers), there were a number of other enterprises with the number of employees from 500 to 1000 people.

To supply the new capital the first channels in Russia were dug.

Peter's transformations were achieved through violence against the population, its complete submission to the will of the monarch, and the eradication of any dissent. Even Pushkin, who sincerely admired Peter, wrote that many of his decrees were "cruel, capricious and, it seems, were written with a whip," as if "escaped from an impatient, autocratic landowner."

Klyuchevsky points out that the triumph of the absolute monarchy, which sought by force to drag its subjects from the Middle Ages into the present, contained a fundamental contradiction: “Peter's reform was a struggle of despotism with the people, with their inertia. to establish European science in Russia ... I wanted the slave, while remaining a slave, to act consciously and freely. "

The construction of St. Petersburg from 1704 to 1717 was mainly carried out by the forces of "working people", mobilized in the framework of in-kind labor service. They felled forest, filled up swamps, built embankments, etc.

In 1704, up to 40 thousand workers were summoned to St. Petersburg from different provinces, mainly landlord serfs and state peasants. In 1707, many workers fled, sent to St. Petersburg from the Belozersk Territory. Peter I ordered to take the family members of the fugitives - their fathers, mothers, wives, children “or whoever lives in their houses” and to keep them in prisons until the fugitives are found.

Workers of factories of Peter's time came from a wide variety of strata of the population: runaway serfs, vagabonds, beggars, even criminals - all of them, according to strict decrees, were taken and sent “to work” in factories.

Peter could not stand "walking" people, not attached to any business, he was ordered to grab them, not sparing even the monastic rank, and send them to factories. There were frequent cases when, in order to supply factories, and especially factories, with workers' hands, villages and villages of peasants were attributed to factories and factories, as was still practiced in the 17th century. Such persons assigned to the factory worked for it and in it by order of the owner.

In November 1702, a decree was issued stating: “There will continue to be in Moscow and in the Moscow court order no matter whether people or from cities governors and clerks, but from monasteries they will send authorities, and landowners and estates will bring their own people and peasants, and those people and peasants will learn to say after themselves“ the sovereign's word and deed "- and without asking those people in the Moscow court order, send an order to the Preobrazhensky order to the steward to Prince Fyodor Yuryevich Romodanovsky. Yes, even in the cities to the governors and clerks of people who learn to say "the sovereign's word and deed" behind them, to send them to Moscow without asking ".

In 1718, the Secret Chancellery was created to investigate the case of Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich, then other political affairs of extreme importance were transferred to her.

On August 18, 1718, a decree was issued, which under the threat of the death penalty was forbidden to "write locked". A non-informant about this was also entitled to the death penalty. This decree was aimed at combating anti-government "anonymous letters".

The decree of Peter I, issued in 1702, proclaimed religious tolerance as one of the main state principles.

“One must deal with the opponents of the church with meekness and understanding,” said Peter. "The Lord gave the kings power over the nations, but Christ alone is in power over the conscience of people." But this decree was not applied to the Old Believers.

In 1716, in order to facilitate their accounting, they were given the opportunity of a semi-legal existence, provided that they pay "for this split all payments in half." At the same time, the control and punishment of those who evaded registration and double tax payments were strengthened.

Those who did not confess and did not pay a double tax were ordered to be fined, each time increasing the rate of the fine, and even exiled to hard labor. For seduction into schism (any Old Believer divine service or the performance of sacraments was considered seduction), just like before Peter I, the death penalty was imposed, which was confirmed in 1722.

Old Believer priests were declared either schismatics, if they were Old Believer mentors, or traitors to Orthodoxy, if they were priests before, and they were punished for both. The schismatic sketes and chapels were ruined. Through torture, punishment with a whip, pulling out nostrils, threats of execution and exile, Bishop Pitirim of Nizhny Novgorod managed to return a considerable number of Old Believers to the bosom of the official church, but most of them soon again “fell into schism”. Deacon Alexander Pitirim, who headed the Kerzhen Old Believers, forced him to abandon the Old Believers, shackling him in shackles and threatening him with beatings, as a result of which the deacon "was afraid of him, of the bishop, great torment, and exiles, and tearing nostrils, as if it was done over others."

When Alexander complained in a letter to Peter I about the actions of Pitirim, he was subjected to terrible torture and was executed on May 21, 1720.

The acceptance by Peter I of the imperial title, as the Old Believers believed, testified that he was the Antichrist, as this emphasized the continuity of state power from Catholic Rome. According to the Old Believers, the calendar changes made during his reign and the population census introduced by him for the per capita salary also testified to the antichrist nature of Peter.

Family of Peter I

For the first time, Peter married at the age of 17, at the insistence of his mother, to Evdokia Lopukhina in 1689. A year later, Tsarevich Alexei was born to them, who was brought up under his mother in concepts that were alien to the reform activities of Peter. The rest of the children of Peter and Evdokia died shortly after birth. In 1698, Evdokia Lopukhina became involved in an archery revolt, the purpose of which was to elevate her son to the kingdom, and was exiled to a monastery.

Alexei Petrovich, the official heir to the Russian throne, condemned the transformation of his father, and in the end fled to Vienna under the patronage of a relative of his wife (Charlotte of Brunswick), Emperor Charles VI, where he sought support in the overthrow of Peter I. In 1717, the prince was persuaded to return home, where he was taken into custody.

On June 24 (July 5), 1718, the Supreme Court, which consisted of 127 people, passed the death sentence to Alexei, finding him guilty of high treason. On June 26 (July 7), 1718, the tsarevich, without waiting for the execution of the sentence, died in the Peter and Paul Fortress.

The true cause of the death of Tsarevich Alexei has not yet been reliably established. From his marriage to Princess Charlotte of Braunschweig, 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, nee Martha Samuilovna Skavronskaya (widow of the dragoon Johannes Kruse), captured by Russian troops as spoils of war during the capture of the Swedish fortress of Marienburg.

Peter took the former servant from the Baltic peasants from Alexander Menshikov and made her his mistress. In 1704, Katerina gave 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 1741-1761).

Katerina alone could cope with the tsar in his fits of anger, was able to calm Peter's convulsive headaches with affection and patient attention. The sound of Katerina's voice calmed Peter. Then she “sat him down and took, caressing, by the head, which she lightly scratched. This produced a magical effect on him, he fell asleep in a few minutes. In order not to disturb his sleep, she held his head on her chest, sitting motionless for two or three hours. After that, he woke up completely fresh and cheerful. "

The official wedding of Peter I with Ekaterina Alekseevna took place on February 19, 1712, shortly after returning from the Prut campaign.

In 1724, Peter crowned Catherine as empress and co-ruler.

Ekaterina Alekseevna gave birth to 11 children to her husband, but most of them died in childhood, except for Anna and Elizabeth.

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

Children of Peter I:

With Evdokia Lopukhina:

Alexey Petrovich 02/18/1690 - 06/26/1718. He was considered the official heir to the throne before his arrest. He was married from 1711 to Princess Sophia-Charlotte of Braunschweig-Wolfenbittel, sister of Elizabeth, wife of Emperor Charles VI. Children: Natalia (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 Catherine:

Catherine 1707-1708.

Illegitimate, died in infancy.

Anna Petrovna 02/07/1708 - 05/15/1728. In 1725 she married the German Duke Karl-Friedrich. She left for Kiel, where she gave birth to her son Karl Peter Ulrich (later the Russian Emperor Peter III).

Elizaveta Petrovna 12/29/1709 - 01/05/1762. Empress from 1741. In 1744 she entered into a secret marriage with A. G. Razumovsky, from which, according to contemporaries, she gave birth to several children.

Natalia 03.03.1713 - 27.05.1715

Margarita 09/03/1714 - 07/27/1715

Peter 10/29/1715 - 04/25/1719 Was considered the official heir to the crown from 06/26/1718 until his death.

Pavel 01/02/1717 - 01/03/1717

Natalia 08/31/1718 - 03/15/1725.

Decree of Peter I on succession to the throne

In the last years of the reign of Peter the Great, the question of succession to the throne arose: who will take the throne after the death of the emperor.

Tsarevich Pyotr Petrovich (1715-1719, son of Ekaterina Alekseevna), who was declared heir to the throne during the abdication of Alexei Petrovich, died in childhood.

The direct heir was the son of Tsarevich Alexei and Princess Charlotte, Pyotr Alekseevich. However, if you follow the custom and declare the son of the disgraced Alexei 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 succession to the throne (canceled by Paul I after 75 years), in which he canceled the ancient custom of transferring the throne to direct descendants in the male line, but allowed the appointment of any worthy person by the will of the monarch as the heir. The text of this important decree justified the need for this measure: "why did they prudently enact this statute, so that this would always be in the will of the ruling sovereign, to whom he wants, to determine the inheritance, and to the definite, seeing what indecency, packs away, so that children and descendants do not fall into such anger as written above I have this bridle on myself ".

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

Pyotr 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 a marriage with Ekaterina Alekseevna, would take the throne.

But in 1724, Anna renounced any claim to the Russian throne after she became engaged to the Duke of Holstein Karl-Friedrich. If the youngest daughter Elizabeth, who was 15 years old (in 1724), took the throne, then the Duke of Holstein would rule instead, who dreamed of returning the lands conquered by the Danes with the help of Russia.

Peter and his nieces, daughters of Ivan's older brother, did not suit: Anna Kurlyandskaya, Ekaterina Mecklenburgskaya and Praskovya Ioannovna. There was only one candidate left - Peter's wife, Empress Ekaterina Alekseevna. Peter needed a person who would continue the work he had begun, his transformation.

On May 7, 1724, Peter crowned Catherine as empress and co-ruler, but after a short time he suspected of adultery (the Mons case). The decree of 1722 violated the usual order of succession, but Peter did not manage to appoint an heir before his death.

Death of Peter I

In the last years of his reign, Peter was very ill (presumably, kidney stones, complicated by uremia).

In the summer of 1724 his illness worsened, in September he felt better, but after a while the attacks intensified. In October, Peter went to inspect the Ladoga Canal, against the advice of his life physician Blumentrost. From Olonets, Pyotr drove 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 stranded. The attacks of the disease intensified, but Peter, not paying attention to them, continued to deal with state affairs. On January 17 (28), 1725, he had such a bad time that he ordered to install a camp church in the room next to his bedroom, and on January 22 (February 2) he confessed. The strength began to leave the patient, he no longer screamed, as before, from severe pain, but only moaned.

On January 27 (February 7), all those sentenced to death or hard labor (excluding murderers and those convicted of repeated robbery) were amnestied. On the same day, at the end of the second hour, Peter demanded paper, began to write, but the pen fell out of his hands, only two words could be made out of what was written: "Give everything ...".

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 Peter's words "Give everything ..." and the order to call Anna is known only from the notes of the Holstein secret adviser GF Bassevich. According to N.I. Pavlenko and V.P. Kozlov, it is a biased fiction aimed at hinting at the rights of Anna Petrovna, the wife of the Holstein Duke Karl Friedrich, to the Russian throne.

When it became obvious that the emperor was dying, the question arose who would take Peter's place. The Senate, the Synod and the generals - all institutions that did not have the formal right to decide the fate of the throne, even before Peter's death, gathered on the night of January 27 (February 7) to January 28 (February 8) to decide on the successor to Peter the Great.

Guards officers entered the conference room, two guards regiments entered the square, and to the drumming of troops withdrawn by the party of Ekaterina Alekseevna and Menshikov, the Senate adopted a unanimous decision by 4 am on January 28 (February 8). By the decision of the Senate, the throne was succeeded by Peter's wife, Ekaterina Alekseevna, who became on January 28 (February 8) 1725 the first Russian empress under the name of Catherine I.

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

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

Peter I Alekseevich - the last Tsar of All Russia and the first Emperor of All Russia, one of the most outstanding rulers of the Russian Empire. He was a real patriot of his state and did everything possible for its prosperity.

From his youth, Peter I showed great interest in different things, and was the first of the Russian tsars who made a long journey across Europe.

Thanks to this, he was able to accumulate a wealth of experience and carry out many important reforms that determined the direction of development in the 18th century.

In this article, we will consider in detail the features of Peter the Great, and pay attention to the traits of his personality, as well as his successes in the political arena.

Biography of Peter 1

Peter 1 Alekseevich Romanov was born on May 30, 1672 c. His father, Alexei Mikhailovich, was the king of the Russian Empire, and ruled it for 31 years.

Mother, Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina, was the daughter of a small local nobleman. Interestingly, Peter was the 14th son of his father and the first of his mother.

Childhood and adolescence of Peter I

When the future emperor was 4 years old, his father Alexei Mikhailovich died, and Peter's elder brother, Fyodor 3 Alekseevich, was on the throne.

The new tsar took up the education of little Peter, ordering him to be taught various sciences. Since at that time a struggle was waged against foreign influence, his teachers were Russian clerks who did not have deep knowledge.

As a result, the boy did not manage to get a proper education, and he wrote with errors until the end of his days.

However, it is worth noting that Peter I managed to compensate for the shortcomings of basic education with rich practical training. Moreover, the biography of Peter I is remarkable precisely for his fantastic practice, and not for his theory.

The story of Peter 1

Six years later, Fedor 3 died, and his son Ivan was to ascend to the Russian throne. However, the legal heir turned out to be a very sickly and weak child.

Taking advantage of this, the Naryshkin family, in fact, organized a coup. Enlisting the support of Patriarch Joachim, the Naryshkins made young Peter king the very next day.

26-year-old Peter I. The portrait by Kneller was presented by Peter in 1698 to the English king

However, the Miloslavskys, relatives of Tsarevich Ivan, declared the illegality of such a transfer of power and the infringement of their own rights.

As a result, in 1682, the famous Streletsky revolt took place, as a result of which two tsars, Ivan and Peter, were on the throne at the same time.

Since that moment, many significant events have taken place in the biography of the young autocrat.

It is worth emphasizing here that from an early age the boy was fond of military affairs. By his order, fortifications were built, and real military equipment was used in staged battles.

Peter 1 put on uniforms on his peers and marched with them along the city streets. Interestingly, he himself acted as the drummer in front of his regiment.

After the formation of his own artillery, the king created a small "fleet". Even then, he wanted to dominate the sea and lead his ships into battle.

Tsar Peter 1

As a teenager, Peter 1 could not yet fully govern the state, so his half-sister Sophia Alekseevna, and then his mother, Natalya Naryshkina, was the regent.

In 1689, Tsar Ivan officially transferred all power to his brother, as a result of which Peter 1 became the only full-fledged head of state.

After the death of his mother, his relatives the Naryshkins helped him to manage the empire. However, the autocrat soon freed himself from their influence and began to independently rule the empire.

The reign of Peter 1

From that time, Peter 1 stopped playing war games, and instead began to develop real plans for future military campaigns. He continued to wage war in the Crimea against, and also repeatedly organized the Azov campaigns.

As a result, he managed to take the Azov fortress, which was one of the first military successes in his biography. Then Peter 1 began building the port of Taganrog, although the state still did not have a fleet as such.

From that time on, the emperor set himself the goal, by all means, to create a strong fleet in order to have an influence on the sea. For this, he made sure that young nobles could learn ship craft in European countries.

It is worth noting that Peter I himself also learned to build ships, working as an ordinary carpenter. Thanks to this, he received great respect among ordinary people who watched how he worked for the good of Russia.

Even then, Peter the Great saw many shortcomings in the state system and was preparing for serious reforms that would forever write his name in.

He studied the state structure of the largest European countries, trying to learn from them all the best.

During this period of the biography, a conspiracy was drawn up against Peter 1, as a result of which a streltsy uprising was to take place. However, the king managed to suppress the riot in time and punish all the conspirators.

After a long confrontation with the Ottoman Empire, Peter the Great decided to sign a peace agreement with it. After that, he started a war with.

He managed to capture several fortresses at the mouth of the Neva River, on which the glorious city of Peter the Great will be built in the future.

Wars of Peter the Great

After a series of successful military campaigns, Peter the Great managed to open an exit to what would later be called the “window to Europe”.

Meanwhile, the military power of the Russian Empire was constantly increasing, and the fame of Peter the Great was worn throughout Europe. Soon the Eastern Baltic was joined to Russia.

In 1709, the famous one took place, in which the Swedish and Russian armies fought. As a result, the Swedes were completely defeated, and the remnants of the troops were taken prisoner.

By the way, this battle was superbly described in the famous poem "Poltava". Here's a snippet:

There was that vague time
When Russia is young
In struggles straining strength,
Courage with the genius of Peter.

It is worth noting that Peter 1 himself participated in the battles, showing courage and courage in battle. By his example, he inspired the Russian army, which was ready to fight for the emperor to the last drop of blood.

Studying Peter's relationship with the soldiers, one cannot help but recall the famous story about a careless soldier. More on this.

An interesting fact is that at the height of the Battle of Poltava, an enemy bullet shot through Peter I's hat, passing a few centimeters from the head. This once again proved the fact that the autocrat was not afraid to risk his life in order to defeat the enemy.

However, numerous military campaigns not only took the lives of valiant soldiers, but also depleted the country's military resources. It got to the point that the Russian Empire found itself in a situation where it was required to simultaneously fight on 3 fronts.

This forced Peter 1 to reconsider his views on foreign policy and make a number of important decisions.

He signed a peace agreement with the Turks, agreeing to give them back the Azov fortress. By making such a sacrifice, he was able to save many human lives and military equipment.

After some time, Peter the Great began to organize campaigns to the east. Their result was the annexation of such cities as Semipalatinsk and.

It is interesting that he even wanted to organize military expeditions to North America and India, but these plans never came true.

But Peter the First was able to brilliantly conduct the Caspian campaign against Persia, having conquered Derbent, Astrabad and many fortresses.

After his death, most of the conquered territories were lost, since their maintenance was not profitable for the state.

Reforms of Peter 1

Throughout his biography, Peter 1 implemented many reforms aimed at the good of the state. Interestingly, he became the first Russian ruler to call himself emperor.

The most important reforms concerned military affairs. In addition, it was during the reign of Peter 1 that the church began to submit to the state, which had never happened before.

Peter the Great's reforms fostered development and trade, as well as a move away from outdated lifestyles.

For example, he taxed the wearing of a beard, wishing to impose European standards of appearance on the boyars. And although this caused a wave of discontent from the Russian nobility, they still obeyed all his decrees.

Every year, medical, naval, engineering and other schools were opened in the country, in which not only the children of officials, but also ordinary peasants could study. Peter I introduced a new Julian calendar, which is still used today.

While in Europe, the king saw many beautiful paintings that boggled his imagination. As a result, upon his arrival in his homeland, he began to provide financial support to artists in order to stimulate the development of Russian culture.

In fairness, it must be said that Peter I was often criticized for the violent method of implementing these reforms. In fact, he forcibly forced people to change their thinking, as well as carry out projects conceived by him.

One of the most striking examples of this is the construction of St. Petersburg, which was carried out in the most difficult conditions. Many people could not stand such loads and ran away.

Then the families of the fugitives were imprisoned and stayed there until the perpetrators returned back to the construction site.

Peter I

Soon Peter 1 formed the body of political investigation and court, which was transformed into the Secret Chancellery. Anyone was forbidden to write in closed rooms.

If anyone knew about such a violation and did not report it to the king, he was subjected to the death penalty. Using such harsh methods, Peter tried to fight anti-government conspiracies.

Personal life of Peter 1

In his youth, Peter 1 loved to be in the German Quarter, enjoying a foreign company. It was there that he first saw a German woman, Anna Mons, with whom he immediately fell in love.

His mother was against his relationship with a German woman, so she insisted that he marry Evdokia Lopukhina. An interesting fact is that Peter did not contradict his mother, and took Lopukhina as his wife.

Of course, in this forced marriage, their family life could not be called happy. They had two boys: Alexei and Alexander, the last of whom died in early childhood.

Alexei was to become the legal heir to the throne after Peter 1. However, due to the fact that Evdokia tried to overthrow her husband from the throne and transfer power to her son, everything turned out completely differently.

Lopukhina was imprisoned in a monastery, and Alexei had to flee abroad. It is worth noting that Alexei himself never approved of his father's reforms, and even called him a despot.

Peter I interrogates Tsarevich Alexei. Ge N.N., 1871

In 1717, Alexei was found and arrested, and then sentenced to death for participation in a conspiracy. However, he died in prison, and under very mysterious circumstances.

Having dissolved his marriage with his wife, in 1703 Peter the Great became interested in 19-year-old Katerina (nee Marta Samuilovna Skavronskaya). A whirlwind romance began between them, which lasted for many years.

Over time, they got married, but even before marriage she gave birth to daughters Anna (1708) and Elizabeth (1709) from the emperor. Elizabeth later became empress (ruled 1741-1761)

Katerina was a very smart and perceptive girl. She alone was able, with the help of affection and patience, to calm the king when he had acute attacks of headache.

Peter I with the sign of the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called on the blue St. Andrew's ribbon and a star on his chest. J.-M. Nattier, 1717

They were officially married only in 1712. After that, they had 9 more children, most of whom died at an early age.

Peter the Great really loved Katerina. In her honor, the Order of St. Catherine was established and a city in the Urals was named. The name of Catherine I also bears the Catherine Palace in Tsarskoe Selo (built under her daughter Elizabeth Petrovna).

Soon, another woman, Maria Cantemir, appeared in the biography of Peter 1, who remained the favorite of the emperor until the end of his life.

It is worth noting that Peter the Great was very tall - 203 cm. At that time he was considered a real giant, and was a cut above everyone else.

However, the size of his legs did not match his height at all. The autocrat wore size 39 shoes and was very narrow at the shoulders. As an additional support, he always carried a cane with him on which he could lean.

Death of Peter

Despite the fact that outwardly Peter 1 seemed to be a very strong and healthy person, in fact, he suffered from migraine attacks throughout his life.

In the last years of his life, he also began to suffer from kidney stones, to which he tried not to pay attention.

At the beginning of 1725, the pain became so severe that he could no longer get out of bed. His health deteriorated every day, and his suffering became unbearable.

Peter 1 Alekseevich Romanov died on January 28, 1725 in the Winter Palace. The official cause of his death was pneumonia.

The Bronze Horseman - a monument to Peter I on Senate Square in St. Petersburg

However, an autopsy showed that death was due to inflammation of the bladder, which soon developed into gangrene.

Peter the Great was buried in the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg, and his wife Catherine 1 became the heir to the Russian throne.

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

Date and place of birth

The last tsar of all Russia was born on June 9, 1672, according to folk tales, Peter was born in the village of Kolomenskoye.

Family and parents of Peter 1

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

Childhood of Peter the Great

From an early age, Peter was very fond of playing with military toys, seeing this, his father assigned the experienced Colonel Menezius as a mentor in military affairs. It is worth noting that Alexei Mikhailovich organized the "Petrov regiment", a small military association that served as the basis for military training in a playful way. This regiment had a real shape and armament. Later, such associations were called "amusing shelves." Here Peter passed his first real military-practical training. At the age of ten, Peter 1 had already begun to rule Russia. It was 1682.

The reign of Peter 1. Briefly

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

Studying the topic "The Personality of Peter 1" is important for understanding the essence of the reforms he is carrying out in Russia. Indeed, in our country, it was often the character, personal qualities and education of the sovereign that determined the main line of social and political development. The reign of this king covers a rather long period of time: in 1689 (when he finally removed his sister Sophia from state affairs) and until his death in 1725.

General characteristics of the era

Consideration of the question of when Peter 1 was born should begin with an analysis of the general historical situation in Russia in the late 17th - early 18th centuries. It was a time when the preconditions for serious and profound political, economic, social and cultural changes were ripe in the country. Already during the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich, a tendency towards the penetration of Western European achievements into the country was clearly noted. With this ruler, a number of measures were taken to transform some aspects of social life.

Therefore, the personality of Peter 1 was formed in an atmosphere when the idea of \u200b\u200bthe need for serious reforms was already clearly defined in society. In this regard, it is necessary to understand that the transformative activity of the first emperor of Russia did not arise from scratch, it became a natural and necessary consequence of the country's entire previous development.

Childhood

Peter I, a brief biography, whose reign and reforms are the subject of this review, was born on May 30 (June 9), 1672. The exact birthplace of the future emperor is unknown. According to the widespread point of view, this place was the Kremlin, but the villages of Kolomenskoye or Izmailovo are also indicated. He was the fourteenth child in the family of Tsar Alexei, but the first from his second wife, Natalya Kirillovna. on the maternal side, he came from the Naryshkin family. She was the daughter of small local nobles, which, perhaps, later predetermined their struggle with the large and influential boyar group of the Miloslavskys at court, who were relatives of the tsar through his first wife.

The childhood of Peter 1 was spent among nannies who did not give him a serious education. That is why, until the end of his life, he did not learn how to read and write and wrote with errors. However, he was a very inquisitive boy who was interested in everything, he had an inquiring mind, which determined his interest in practical sciences. The end of the 17th century, when Peter 1 was born, was a time when European education began to spread in the highest circles of society, but the early years of the future emperor passed away from the new trends of the era.

Teenage years

The life of the tsarevich proceeded in the village of Preobrazhenskoye, where he, in fact, was left to himself. No one was seriously involved in raising the boy, so his studies during these years were superficial. Nevertheless, the childhood of Peter 1 was very rich and fruitful in terms of the formation of his worldview and interest in scientific and practical studies. He became seriously interested in the organization of troops, for which he arranged for himself the so-called amusing regiments, which consisted of local courtyard boys, as well as the sons of small-scale nobles, whose possessions were located nearby. Together with these small detachments, he took impromptu bastions, organized battles and gatherings, and carried out attacks. With regard to the same time, we can say that the fleet of Peter the Great arose. At first it was just a small boat, but it is nevertheless considered to be the father of the Russian flotilla.

First serious steps

It has already been said above that the time when Peter 1 was born is considered to be transitional in the history of Russia. It was during this period that the country was in a position when all the necessary prerequisites for its entry into the international arena arose. The first steps were taken in this direction during the foreign travel of the future emperor to the countries of Western Europe. Then he was able to see with his own eyes the achievements of these states in various areas of life.

Peter I, whose brief biography includes this important stage in his life, appreciated the Western European achievements, primarily in technology and weapons. However, he drew attention to the culture, education of these countries, to their political institutions. After his return to Russia, he made an attempt to modernize the administrative apparatus, army, legislation, which should have prepared the country for entering the international arena.

Initial stage of government: the beginning of reforms

The era when Peter 1 was born was a preparatory time for major changes in our country. That is why the transformations of the first emperor turned out to be so out of place and survived their creator for centuries. At the very beginning of his reign, the new sovereign abolished which was the legislative authority under the previous kings. Instead, he created a Senate on the Western European model. It was supposed to host meetings of senators to draft laws. Indicative is the fact that initially it was a temporary measure, which, however, turned out to be very effective: this institution existed until the February Revolution of 1917.

Further transformations

It has already been said above that Peter 1 on the maternal side comes from a not very noble noble family. However, his mother was brought up in a European spirit, which, of course, could not but affect the boy's personality, although the queen herself adhered to traditional views and measures when raising her son. Nevertheless, the tsar was inclined to transform almost all spheres of the life of Russian society, which was literally an urgent need in connection with Russia's conquest of access to the Baltic Sea and the country's entry into the international arena.

And so the emperor changed the administrative apparatus: he created collegia instead of orders, a Synod to manage church affairs. In addition, he formed a regular army, and the fleet of Peter I became one of the most powerful among other maritime powers.

Features of transformative activity

The main goal of the emperor's reign was the desire to reform those areas that were necessary for him to solve the most important tasks in the conduct of hostilities on several fronts at once. He himself apparently assumed that these changes would be temporary. Most modern historians agree that the ruler did not have any premeditated program of activities to reform the country. Many experts believe that he acted based on specific needs.

The importance of the emperor's reforms for his successors

However, the phenomenon of his reforms lies precisely in the fact that these seemingly temporary measures outlived their creator for a long time and existed almost unchanged for two centuries. Moreover, his successors, for example, Catherine II, were largely guided by his achievements. This suggests that the reforms of the ruler came to the place and at the right time. The life of Peter 1 was, in fact, devoted to changing and improving a variety of areas in society. He was interested in everything new, however, borrowing the achievements of the West, first of all he thought about what benefits it would bring to Russia. That is why his transformative activities have long served as an example for carrying out reforms during the reign of other emperors.

Relationship to others

When describing the character of the tsar, one should never forget which boyar family Peter belonged to. On the maternal side, he came from a not very well-born nobility, which, most likely, determined his interest not in nobility, but in the merits of a person before the fatherland and his skill serve. The emperor did not value rank and title, but the specific talents of his subordinates. This speaks of Pyotr Alekseevich's democratic approach to people, despite his harsh and even tough character.

Mature years

In the last years of his life, the emperor strove to consolidate the successes achieved. But here he had serious problems with the heir. subsequently very badly affected the political administration and led to serious difficulties in the country. The fact is that the son of Peter, Tsarevich Alexei went against his father, not wanting to continue his reforms. In addition, the king had serious family problems. Nevertheless, he made sure to consolidate his gains: he accepted the title of emperor, and Russia became an empire. This step has raised the international prestige of our country. In addition, Petr Alekseevich achieved recognition of Russia's access to the Baltic Sea, which was of fundamental importance for the development of trade and the fleet. Subsequently, his successors continued their policy in this direction. Under Catherine II, for example, Russia received access to the Black Sea. The emperor died as a result of complications after a cold and before his death he did not have time to draw up a will, which led to the emergence of numerous pretenders to the throne and repeated palace coups.

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A brief history of the reign of Peter I

Childhood of Peter I

The future great emperor Peter the First was born on May 30, 1672 in the family of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and was the youngest child in the family. Peter's mother was Natalya Naryshkina, who played a huge role in shaping her son's political views.

In 1676, after the death of Tsar Alexei, power passes to Fedor, Peter's half-brother. At the same time, Fyodr himself insisted on enhanced education of Peter, reproaching Naryshkin for being illiterate. A year later, Peter began to study hard. The future ruler of Russia had an educated clerk Nikita Zotov as teachers, who was distinguished by his patience and kindness. He managed to enter into the disposition of the restless prince, who only did what he entered into fights with noble and archer children, and also spent all his free time crawling in attics.

From childhood, Peter was interested in geography, military affairs and history. The tsar carried his love for books throughout his life, reading already being a ruler and wanting to create his own book on the history of the Russian state. Also, he himself was engaged in compiling an alphabet that would be easier for ordinary people to memorize.

Ascension to the throne of Peter I

In 1682, Tsar Fyodor died without making a will, and after his death, two candidates lay claim to the Russian throne - the sickly Ivan and the daredevil Peter the First. Enlisting the support of the clergy, the entourage of ten-year-old Peter elevates him to the throne. However, the relatives of Ivan Miloslavsky, pursuing the goal of elevating Sophia or Ivan to the throne, are preparing an archery revolt.

On May 15, an uprising begins in Moscow. Ivan's relatives spread rumors about the murder of the Tsarevich. Outraged by this, the archers move to the Kremlin, where they are met by Natalya Naryshkina, along with Peter and Ivan. Even convinced of the lies of the Miloslavskys, the archers killed and plundered in the city for several more days, demanding the imbecile Ivan as tsar. After a truce was reached, as a result of which both brothers were appointed rulers, but until they came of age, their sister Sophia was to rule the country.

Formation of the personality of Peter I

Having witnessed the cruelty and recklessness of the archers during the riot, Peter hated them, wanting to avenge the tears of his mother and the death of innocent people. During the reign of the regent, Peter with Natalya Naryshkina lives most of the time in the Semenovskoye, Kolomenskoye and Preobrazhensky villages. He left them only to participate in ceremonial receptions in Moscow.

Lively mind, as well as natural curiosity and firmness of character of Peter led him to a passion for military affairs. He even collects "funny shelves" in the villages, recruiting teenage children from both noble and peasant families. Over time, such fun turned into real military exercises, and the Preobrazhensky and Semyonovsky regiments became a rather impressive military force, which surpassed, according to the records of contemporaries, the archers. In the same period, Peter plans to create a Russian fleet.

He gets acquainted with the basics of shipbuilding at the Yauza and Lake Pleshcheev. At the same time, foreigners who lived in the German settlement played a huge role in the strategic thinking of the prince. Many of them became Peter's loyal companions in the future.

At the age of seventeen, Peter the First marries Evdokia Lopukhina, but a year later he becomes indifferent to his wife. At the same time, he is often seen with the daughter of a German merchant, Anna Mons.

Marriage and coming of age give Peter the First the right to occupy the throne promised to him earlier. However, Sophia does not like this at all and in the summer of 1689 she tries to provoke an uprising of the archers. The Tsarevich takes refuge with his mother in the Trinity - Sergeev Lavra, where the Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky regiments arrive to help him. In addition, on the side of Peter's entourage and Patriarch Joachim. Soon the rebellion was completely suppressed, and its participants were subjected to repression and execution. The very same regent Sophia is Peter in the Novodevichy Convent, where he remains until the end of his days.

Brief description of the policy and reforms of Peter I

Tsarevich Ivan soon dies and Peter becomes the sole ruler of Russia. However, he was in no hurry to study state affairs, entrusting them to his mother's entourage. After her death, the entire burden of power falls on Peter.

By that time, the king was completely obsessed with access to the ice-free sea. After the unsuccessful first Azov campaign, the ruler begins building the fleet, thanks to which he takes the Azov fortress. After that, Peter takes part in the Northern War, the victory in which gave the emperor access to the Baltic.

The internal policy of Peter the Great is full of innovative ideas and transformations. During his reign, he carried out the following reforms:

• Social;
• Church;
• Medical;
• Educational;
• Administrative;
• Industrial;
• Financial, etc.

Peter the First died in 1725 from pneumonia. After him, his wife Catherine the First began to rule Russia.

The results of Peter's activities 1. Brief description.

Video lecture: a short history of the reign of Peter I