Peter I Alekseevich is the last Tsar of All Rus' and the first All-Russian Emperor, one of the most outstanding rulers of the Russian Empire. He was a true patriot of his state and did everything possible for its prosperity.
From his youth, Peter I showed great interest in various sciences, and was the first of the Russian tsars to make a long journey through European countries.
Thanks to this, he was able to accumulate a wealth of experience and carry out many important reforms that determined the direction of Russia's development in the 18th century.
In this article we will take a detailed look at the features of the biography of Peter the Great, and pay attention to his personality traits, as well as his successes in the political arena.
Childhood and youth of Peter I
When the future emperor was 4 years old, his father Alexei Mikhailovich died, and Peter’s older brother, Fyodor 3 Alekseevich, took the throne.
The new tsar began raising little Peter, ordering him to be taught various sciences. Since at that time there was a struggle against foreign influence, his teachers were Russian clerks who did not have deep knowledge.
As a result, the boy was unable to receive a proper education, and until the end of his days he wrote with errors.
However, it is worth noting that Peter 1 managed to compensate for the shortcomings of basic education with rich practical training. Moreover, the biography of Peter I is notable precisely for his fantastic practice, and not for his theory.
Childhood
The future emperor was born on June 9, 1672 in Moscow. He became the 14th child of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and the first of three children of his second wife, Crimean Tatar princess Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina.
Peter I in childhood. Portrait by an unknown artist
When Peter was 4 years old, his father died of a heart attack. Previously, he declared Fyodor, his son from his first marriage with Maria Miloslavskaya, who had poor health since childhood, to be the heir to the throne. Difficult times have come for Peter's mother; she and her son settled in the Moscow region.
Parents of Peter the Great: Alexey Mikhailovich Romanov and Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina
The boy grew up to be a strong, lively, inquisitive and active child. He was raised by nannies and educated by clerks. Although he subsequently had problems with literacy (by his 12th birthday he had not yet mastered the Russian alphabet), he knew German from an early age and, having an excellent memory, later mastered English, Dutch, and French. In addition, he studied many crafts, including gunsmithing, carpentry, and turning.
Natalya Naryshkina and baby Peter. Artist Pavel Ryzhenko
After the death of Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich at the age of 20, who did not make orders regarding the heir to the throne, the relatives of his mother Maria Miloslavskaya, his father’s first wife, considered that the next eldest, her 16-year-old son Ivan, who suffered from scurvy and epilepsy, should become the new tsar. But the boyar clan of the Naryshkins, with the support of Patriarch Joachim, advocated the candidacy of their protege, the healthy Tsarevich Peter, who was then 10 years old.
Clerk Zotov teaches Tsarevich Peter to read and write
As a result of the Streletsky revolt, when many relatives of the widow queen were killed, both contenders for the throne were proclaimed monarchs. Ivan was declared the “eldest” of them, and sister Sophia became the sovereign ruler, due to their young age, completely removing her stepmother Naryshkina from governing the country.
History 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 sick and weak child.
Taking advantage of this, the Naryshkin family, in fact, organized a coup d'etat. Having secured 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, the famous Streletsky revolt took place in 1682, as a result of which two kings were on the throne at the same time - Ivan and Peter.
From that moment on, many significant events occurred in the biography of the young autocrat.
It is worth emphasizing here that from an early age the boy was interested in military affairs. On his orders, fortifications were built, and real military equipment was used in staged battles.
Peter 1 put uniforms on his peers and marched with them along the city streets. Interestingly, he himself acted as a drummer, walking 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.
Evdokia Lopukhina
Evdokia Lopukhina is the daughter of a lawyer who served Alexei Mikhailovich. She was chosen by Peter's mother Natalya Kirillovna. The son was not delighted with his mother’s choice, but did not resist. Peter's mother liked the girl's piety and humble character.
The wedding took place in February 1689. This event became significant - according to the laws of that time, a married person was considered an adult, which means that the crown prince could lay claim to the throne (at that time there was a struggle for power between Sophia and Peter 1).
There were three children in this marriage, according to some sources, and four, according to others. The fact remains that Evdokia gave birth to three sons : Alexei, Alexander and Pavel. Of these, only the first-born, Alexei (b. 1690), survived infancy. The second son of Evdokia and Peter, born in the fall of 1691, died five months later. The existence of the third son, Pavel Petrovich, is questioned by many historians; most likely he died during childbirth or in the first days of his life.
The king quickly became bored with his young wife. He went to Pereyaslavl, where he stayed for several months. Subsequently, Peter decided to get rid of Evdokia. But for a long time he did not find legal grounds for this. But according to some reports, Evdokia participated in the Streletsky revolt. The king latched on to this, in order to get rid of his unloved wife, he imprisoned her in a monastery.
Catherine I - empress from the convoy
In 1704, Marta Skavronskaya , a former servant, who was introduced to the Tsar by Prince Menshikov in such a timely manner, began to take a place in Peter’s heart. Martha, taken prisoner during the capture of the Swedish fortress, became first the mistress and then the wife of the king. Martha she turned into Catherine I.
Children of Peter 1 from his second marriage - Ekaterina, Anna, Elizabeth, Natalya, Margarita, Peter, Pavel, Natalya, Peter (except for Anna and Elizabeth, they died in infancy).
Even before the official wedding, Catherine gave birth to four children to Peter - two boys, Pavel and Peter died soon after giving birth, daughters Anna and Elizabeth in the future played a decisive role in the fate of the Russian throne.
The official wedding of Peter and Catherine took place in 1712. Over the next three years, Catherine gave birth to two now “legitimate” daughters, but both died in infancy. On November 9, 1715, another contender for the throne was born - Tsarevich Pyotr Petrovich .
When Catherine gave birth to Peter's long-awaited boy, the position of the son from his first marriage was shaken. By this time, the heir to the throne, Alexei Petrovich, had two children from the German princess - the eldest Natalya and the younger Peter (the future Emperor Peter II , the last Romanov in the direct male line). But soon after giving birth, Alexei’s wife died. On the day of the wife's funeral, the prince was given a letter from his father. In it, Peter threatened to deprive his son of the throne.
How Peter I had no sons left at all
Alexey Petrovich was not very interested in state affairs, and then there was a disagreement with his father. Peter's opponents took advantage of this - they advised Alexei to flee to Austria. The prince obeyed and thereby ruined himself.
The fugitive was found, returned to Russia and sent to his father for trial. After interrogations and brutal torture, Alexey named the names of those who helped him escape from the country. And he admitted that he went on the run because he was afraid for his life. Alexei understood that he was an unwanted heir, and was afraid that his father, together with his wife Catherine, would decide to get rid of him.
The Tsarevich was placed in the Peter and Paul Fortress. The court sentenced the traitor to death. But 28-year-old Alexey did not live to see his execution - he was found dead in his cell. The official cause of death was apoplexy. But historians are still arguing about what actually happened.
Less than a year after the death of Alexei, Tsarevich Peter, who was considered at that time the heir to the throne, died. The boy was just over three years old.
He never learned to walk or talk. Peter the Great had high hopes for his son, but they were not justified.
The sovereign had no other sons left. Pavel , who was born shortly after Pyotr Petrovich, died in the first days of his life. By the beginning of 1725, the last year of Peter I’s life, only three of his daughters from Catherine remained alive: Anna and Elizabeth, who were born before the official wedding, and the youngest, the last child of Catherine and Peter, Natalya .
Natalya briefly outlived her father - the girl died of measles at the age of six and a half years, on March 15, 1725. Then Emperor Peter had not yet been buried; the coffins of his father and his daughter were placed in the same hall.
Tsar Peter 1
As a teenager, Peter 1 was not yet able to fully govern the state, so his half-sister Sofya Alekseevna, and then his mother Natalya Naryshkina, became his 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 manage the empire. However, the autocrat soon freed himself from their influence and began to independently rule the empire.
Reign
At first, young Peter was not interested in the affairs of the state. He constantly spent his free time in Deutsche Slaboe, where he met his future comrades Patrick Gordon and Franz Lefort. And with his future mistress, Anna Mons.
Peter also often visited the Moscow region, where he created amusing troops from his peers. During one of these fun, the young man’s face was burned by a grenade. In 1698, Peter and Sophia had a conflict, the reason for which was that his sister did not want to lose her power. The brothers, who had already matured, sent Sophia to a monastery. And until Ivan’s death in 1696, they both ruled on the throne, although in fact Ivan had long ago ceded it to Peter.
At the very beginning of the reign of Pyotr Alekseevich, the board was in the hands of the Naryshkins. But after the death of his mother in 1694, he took full responsibility for the state upon himself. His first goal was to gain access to the Black Sea. In 1696, after construction in the flotilla, the Turkish fortress of Azov was captured, but despite this, the Kerch Strait remained under the control of the Ottomans.
From 1697 to 1698 The king traveled around Western Europe, making acquaintances with important people from large and influential states. He also expanded his knowledge of navigation and shipbuilding.
Peter 1 had enormous willpower and determination. He improved the economy in Rus', and forced the nobility and merchants to build mining, gunpowder, metallurgical enterprises, create manufactories - that is, to develop the industry in the country.
By order of the Great Emperor, a naval guard school, an academy of sciences, an engineering, medical and artillery school were opened in Moscow.
He published the country's first newspaper, opened the Kunstkamera museum and a theater that was accessible to absolutely everyone.
When military operations took place, the emperor never sat on the sidelines; he always took part on the battlefield. And during the Northern War of 1700-1721; in the battles for Azov 1695-1696; during the Prut and Caspian campaign of 1711 and 1722-1723. - personally led the army.
During the reign of Peter the Great, the Kamchatka Peninsula joined Russia and the cities of Semipalatinsk and Omsk were founded.
Reign of Peter 1
From that time on, Peter 1 stopped playing war games, and instead began to develop real plans for future military campaigns. He continued to wage war in Crimea against the Ottoman Empire, and also repeatedly organized the Azov campaigns.
As a result of this, he managed to take the Azov fortress, which became one of the first military successes in his biography. Then Peter 1 began building the port of Taganrog, although there was still no fleet as such in the state.
From that time on, the emperor set out to create a strong fleet at all costs in order to have influence on the sea. To do this, he made sure that young nobles could study 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 gained great respect among ordinary people who watched him work 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 history.
He studied the government structure of the largest European countries, trying to adopt the best from them.
During this period of biography, a conspiracy was drawn up against Peter 1, as a result of which a Streltsy uprising was supposed to occur. However, the king managed to suppress the rebellion 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 this he started a war with Sweden.
He managed to capture several fortresses at the mouth of the Neva River, on which the glorious city of Peter the Great, St. Petersburg, would be built in the future.
Rule of the Tsar
Peter continued the war with Crimea and took the fortress of Azov. Further actions of Peter I were aimed at creating a powerful fleet. Peter I's foreign policy at that time was focused on finding allies in the war with the Ottoman Empire. For this purpose, Peter went to Europe.
At this time, the activities of Peter I consisted only of creating political unions. He studies shipbuilding, structure, and culture of other countries. Returned to Russia after news of the Streltsy mutiny. As a result of the trip, he wanted to change Russia, for which several innovations were made. For example, chronology according to the Julian calendar was introduced.
To develop trade, access to the Baltic Sea was required. So the next stage of the reign of Peter I was the war with Sweden. Having made peace with Turkey, he captured the fortress of Noteburg and Nyenschanz. In May 1703, construction of St. Petersburg began. Next year, Narva and Dorpat were taken. In June 1709, Sweden was defeated in the Battle of Poltava. Soon after the death of Charles XII, peace was concluded between Russia and Sweden. New lands were annexed to Russia, and access to the Baltic Sea was gained.
Wars of Peter the Great
After a series of successful military campaigns, Peter 1 managed to open access to the Baltic Sea, which would later be called the “window to Europe.”
Meanwhile, the military power of the Russian Empire was constantly increasing, and the glory of Peter the Great spread throughout Europe. Soon the Eastern Baltic states were annexed to Russia.
In 1709, the famous Battle of Poltava 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 by Alexander Pushkin in the famous poem “Poltava”. Here's a snippet:
There was that troubled time, When young Russia, straining its strength in struggles, lived with the genius of Peter.
It is worth noting that Peter 1 himself took part in battles, showing courage and bravery 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. Read more about this here.
An interesting fact is that at the height of the Battle of Poltava, an enemy bullet shot through Peter I’s hat, passing just a few centimeters from his head. This once again proved the fact that the autocrat was not afraid to risk his life to defeat the enemy.
However, numerous military campaigns not only took the lives of valiant warriors, but also depleted the country's military resources. Things got to the point that the Russian Empire found itself in a situation where it was necessary to fight on 3 fronts simultaneously.
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 fortress of Azov. By making such a sacrifice, he was able to save many human lives and military equipment.
After some time, Peter the Great began organizing campaigns to the east. Their result was the annexation of such cities as Omsk, Semipalatinsk and Kamchatka to Russia.
Interestingly, he even wanted to organize military expeditions to North America and India, but these plans were never destined to come true.
But Peter the Great was able to brilliantly carry out the Caspian campaign against Persia, conquering Baku, Derbent, Astrabad and many fortresses.
After his death, most of the conquered territories were lost, since their maintenance was not profitable for the state.
North War
Peter the Great continued the work of Ivan the Terrible, who waged the Livonian War for access to the Baltic Sea. His military reforms begin with the introduction of conscription, according to which soldiers had to serve for 25 years. Serf Russia sends the most violent and passionate peasants into the army. This is the secret of the brilliant victories of Russia in the eighteenth century. But noble children are also required to serve, and they are given a Table of Ranks.
In preparation for war with Sweden, Peter put together the Northern Union, which included Denmark, Saxony and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The campaign got off to a bad start. Denmark is forced to withdraw from the war, and the Russians are defeated at Narva. However, military reforms continued, and already in the autumn of 1702, the Russians began to kick the Swedes out of the Baltic cities: Noteburg, Nieschanz, Dorpat and Narva. Swedish King Charles XII invades Ukraine to unite with Hetman Ivan Mazepa. Here Russian weapons crowned themselves with victories in the Battle of Lesnaya (October 9, 1708) and in the Battle of Poltava (July 8, 1709).
The defeated Charles XII flees to Istanbul and incites the Sultan to go to war with Russia. In the summer of 1711, Peter went on the Prut campaign against Turkey, which ended with the encirclement of Russian troops. The Tsar manages to pay off with jewelry, which was taken off by Peter's new wife Marta Skavronskaya, a pupil of the Lutheran pastor Ernst Gluck. According to the new peace treaty, Russia gave the Azov fortress to Turkey and lost access to the Sea of Azov.
But failures in the east can no longer hinder the successes of the Russian army in the Baltic states. After the mysterious death of Charles XII, the Swedes no longer resist. According to the Treaty of Nystad (September 10, 1721), Russia gains access to the Baltic Sea, as well as the territory of Ingria, part of Karelia, Estland and Livonia. At the request of the Senate, Tsar Peter accepted the title of the Great, Father of the Fatherland and Emperor of All Russia.
Reforms of Peter 1
Throughout his biography, Peter 1 implemented many reforms aimed at the benefit of the state. Interestingly, he became the first Russian ruler who began 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.
The reforms of Peter the Great contributed to the development of industry and trade, as well as a departure from an outdated way of life.
For example, he imposed a tax on wearing a beard, wanting to impose European standards of appearance on the boyars. And although this caused a wave of discontent on the part of the Russian nobility, they still obeyed all his decrees.
It is difficult to name any area of activity that would not have been affected by Peter’s reforms. It was Peter I who founded the first newspaper in Russia, and also made sure that various foreign books were translated into Russian.
Every year, medical, maritime, engineering and other schools were opened in the country, in which not only the children of officials, but also ordinary peasants could study. Peter 1 introduced the new Julian calendar, which is still used today.
While in Europe, the king saw many beautiful paintings that captured his imagination. As a result, upon arriving home, he began to provide financial support to artists in order to stimulate the development of Russian culture.
To be fair, it must be said that Peter 1 was often criticized for the violent method of implementing these reforms. Essentially, he forced people to change their thinking and also to carry out the projects he had in mind.
One of the most striking examples of this is the construction of St. Petersburg, which was carried out under difficult conditions. Many people could not withstand such stress and ran away.
Then the families of the fugitives were put in prison and remained there until the culprits returned back to the construction site.
Winter Palace of Peter I
Soon Peter 1 formed a body of political investigation and court, which was transformed into the Secret Chancellery. Any person was prohibited from writing in closed rooms.
If anyone knew about such a violation and did not report it to the king, he was subject to the death penalty. Using such harsh methods, Peter tried to fight anti-government conspiracies.
Legends about Peter I
For various reasons (in particular, due to the fact that the other children of the tsar and he himself were, unlike Peter, physically weak), there were legends that the real father of the emperor was not Alexei Mikhailovich.
According to one version, paternity was attributed to the Russian admiral, a native of Geneva, Franz Yakovlevich Lefort, according to another - to the Georgian Grand Duke, who ruled in Kakheti, Irakli I. There were also rumors that Naryshkina had a very weak daughter, who was replaced by a strong boy from a German settlement , and even statements that instead of the true anointed of God, the Antichrist ascended the throne.
There is a hypothesis that False Peter returned from the Great Embassy
The more common theory is that Peter was replaced during his stay in the Grand Embassy. Its supporters cite the following arguments: upon his return in 1698, the tsar began to introduce foreign customs (shaving beards, dancing and entertainment, etc.); tried to find the secret library of Sophia Palaeologus, the location of which was known only to persons of royal blood, but to no avail; Before Peter returned to Moscow, the remnants of the Streltsy army were destroyed in a battle about which no documentary information has been preserved.
Personal life of Peter 1
In his youth, Peter 1 loved to be in the German settlement, enjoying foreign society. It was there that he first saw the German 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: Alexey and Alexander, the latter 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 participating in a conspiracy. However, he died in prison, and under very mysterious circumstances.
Having divorced 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 her marriage she gave birth to daughters Anna (1708) and Elizabeth (1709) from the emperor. Elizabeth later became empress (reigned 1741-1761)
Katerina was a very smart and insightful girl. She alone managed, 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 a blue St. Andrew's ribbon and a star on his chest. J.-M. Nattier, 1717
They officially got married only in 1712. After that, they had 9 more children, most of whom died at an early age.
Peter the Great truly loved Katerina. The Order of St. Catherine was established in her honor and the city of Yekaterinburg in the Urals was named. The Catherine Palace in Tsarskoye Selo (built under her daughter Elizaveta Petrovna) also bears the name of Catherine I.
Soon, another woman, Maria Cantemir, appeared in the biography of Peter 1, who remained the emperor’s favorite until the end of his life.
Death of Peter I
Compared to his older brothers, born by a different mother from their common father, Peter the Great seemed quite healthy. But in fact, he was tormented by severe headaches almost all his life, and in the last years of his reign, Peter the Great suffered from kidney stones. The attacks intensified even more after the emperor, together with ordinary soldiers, pulled out the stranded boat, but he tried not to pay attention to the illness.
Engraving "Death of Peter the Great" | ArtPolitInfo
At the end of January 1725, the ruler could no longer endure the pain and fell ill in his Winter Palace. After the emperor had no strength left to scream, he only moaned, and everyone around him realized that Peter the Great was dying. Peter the Great accepted his death in terrible agony. Doctors named pneumonia as the official cause of his death, but later doctors had strong doubts about this verdict. An autopsy was performed, which showed a terrible inflammation of the bladder, which had already developed into gangrene. Peter the Great was buried in the cathedral at the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg, and his wife, Empress Catherine I, became the heir to the throne.
Interesting facts about Peter 1
It is worth noting that Peter the Great was very tall - 203 cm. At that time, he was considered a real giant, and was head and shoulders taller than everyone else.
However, the size of his feet did not correspond to his height at all. The autocrat wore size 39 shoes and had very narrow shoulders. As an additional support, he always carried a cane with him on which he could lean.
Read all the most interesting facts about Peter 1 here.
Brief biography of Peter the Great: great since childhood
Despite his obvious attraction to science and sanity, there were always many mysteries, semi-mystical events and secrets lurking around the history of Peter the Great. He was blessed (crowned) already at the age of ten, when other boys were only thinking about how to play tag, poke or goad, and after arriving from abroad everyone kept saying that the tsar was not real. Many seriously thought that he was walled up in a wall in Riga, and a double loyal to the Germans was sent back to Russia. Other evil tongues insisted that they replaced the young prince in the cradle, immediately after birth. Be that as it may, the Peter the Great era remained in the memory of people for a long time, and his descendants highly appreciated his contribution to the development of Russia.
Important
The birthplace of the future Tsar Peter I is not known for certain; it is a mystery for all historians of subsequent generations. Most researchers are inclined to believe that he was born in the Terem Palace on the territory of the Kremlin. However, popular versions say that he was born in the village of Kolomenskoye, the former residence and patrimony of the Russian tsars. The third version talks about Izmailovo, but this is completely unlikely, although this particular village was the patrimony of the Romanov boyars, so anything is possible.
Childhood and early years
So, little Petenka was born into the family of the second in a row, after Mikhail Fedorovich, the Russian ruler from the Romanov dynasty, Alexei Mikhailovich, popularly nicknamed the Quiet Tsar, on May 30, 1672. Despite this nickname, the father did a great job with his offspring, and Peter himself became the fourteenth child in a large family. But his mother had him first, and she became the tsar’s second wife, Natalya Kirillovna, née Naryshkina. According to some information, the little prince received baptism on June 29, just on the day of the holy apostles Peter and Paul in the Church of Gregory of Neocaesarea, which is in Derbitsy, but according to others, this happened in the Chudov Monastery, which was located in the eastern part of the Moscow Kremlin.
The ceremony was conducted by Archpriest Andrei Savinov himself, famous for his righteousness. Where did such a name come from, previously not used by either the Romanovs or the Naryshkins, historians argue to this day. The Rurikovichs had only one king, Peter Dmitrievich, and even that one two hundred years before the events in question. Perhaps this is connected with the day of his baptism, or perhaps it is simply based on a euphonic consonance with the name of his brother Fedor.
The boy managed to stay with his mother for a short time and by the time he was one year old he was taken away and given to mothers and nannies, who were supposed to teach the prince all the intricacies of court life, and not only that. In 1676, little Peter was left without a father, since Alexei Mikhailovich died of a heart attack, as they say, right in the middle of a theatrical performance, which he loved and respected so much that he went there with his wife and daughters. At that time, the future king was only four years old.
Peter's half-brother Fyodor III Alekseevich, with whom he had the same father but different mothers, was supposed to perform the functions of a guardian, and at the same time the new tsar. At that time, he himself was fifteen years old, he was sickly, weak, suffering from scurvy and other diseases from early childhood. He did not want, and could not, take care of his young brothers, and by the age of twenty he completely died. Therefore, the education received by Peter the Great left much to be desired. This is precisely why, apparently, he wrote with errors until the very end of his life and had great respect for all truly educated people. He studied from 1676 to 1680, but all the shortcomings of education were more than compensated for by simply colossal practical knowledge and natural ingenuity.
Worth knowing
At the time when the future Tsar Peter the Great was receiving his education, the Moscow Patriarch Joachim decided to fight “Latinization” and completely removed all the students of Simeon of Polotsk, who had previously taught Peter’s older brothers, from the royal court. Therefore, the less knowledgeable Afanasy Nesterov and Nikita Zotov taught the prince. At the same time, Peter could not himself learn from some graduate of an academy or university, for example, since at that time nothing like this existed in Russia. At that time, only the clergy and some of the most progressive landowners were taught to read and write.
Personal qualities
The early years of Peter the Great's life were filled with various experiences. He loses his father early, he is taken away from his mother, and around him there is a pandemonium of courtiers who want to benefit from any balance of power. The accession of his elder brother pushes him, and most importantly, his mother, deep into the shadows. Tsarina Natalya Kirillovna decides to retire and leaves for the village of Preobrazhenskoye, so as not to interfere in all these ups and downs, especially since she was not really allowed into any business. All this left a certain imprint on the personal characteristics of Peter 1.
From early childhood, the boy amazed those around him with his external and internal beauty, liveliness of figure and face. He had a truly gigantic height in adulthood (2 meters and 3 centimeters), especially at that time, because his head always rose above the crowd. Moreover, he was not at all of a heroic build; he wore shoes of size 39-40, and clothes of only forty-two. However, many were frightened by the convulsive twitching of the facial muscles of his beautiful face, which many attribute to all the stress that he received from early childhood, or perhaps it was the result of an attempted poisoning by his half-sister Sophia.
The king's character matched his appearance. Many contemporaries noted that Peter I was smart, intelligent, and understood humor, but he lacked education and upbringing. He seemed like a rough guy who had educated himself from books, but that didn't bother him at all. In his youth, the personality of Peter 1 was formed in many ways, he tried everything and even indulged in various vices with his friends, such as drunken orgies. At the same time, he shocked the courtyards with obscene jokes, but he also took on the duties of an executioner after the Streltsy uprising absolutely resignedly and even with some enthusiasm. He was a versatile person, whom everyone around him was constantly trying to fit into some kind of framework, but it turned out very poorly.
The outstanding reign of Peter the Great: a triumphal procession
In the hot April of 1682, sick and weak, the elder brother Fyodor III Alekseevich ordered to live long and the question arose about the rightful heir. According to custom, the eldest Ivan should have been enthroned, but his health left much to be desired. Peter's relatives, namely the Naryshkins, consulted with Patriarch Joachim and on the same day decided to crown him so that no one else would have any unnecessary and inconvenient questions. This spring day is April 27 (May 7) and can be considered the beginning of the reign of Peter 1, Emperor and Tsar of All Rus'.
Beginning of reign
If you think that the questions have settled on their own, then you are mistaken. In fact, at that time, the Naryshkins came to power instead of the Miloslavskys, and even “discharged” the disgraced Artamon Matveev from exile and called him the “great guardian” of the young tsar. Moreover, it was they who said that, being already at the point of death, Fyodor Alekseevich personally and of his own free will handed over the scepter to his brother Petenka. However, there is no other evidence of this; most likely, it was invented in order to legitimize such a radical decision.
At the same time, the Miloslavskys, clearly feeling the infringement of their own rights, began to incite the archers, who by that time numbered up to twenty thousand in Moscow, to revolt. They began to convince them that Tsar Ivan was strangled by the Naryshkins, and the crowd moved to the Kremlin. The king's mother, together with the highest clergy, brought the boys to the people, but could not completely prevent the murders. It was then that Artamonov, Mikhail Dolgoruky, and at the same time Natalya’s two siblings died.
On May 16, the archers sent ambassadors to the royal family with a demand to recognize Ivan as the first tsar, and Peter as the second, on which they decided, and a month later both boys were crowned kings and anointed with chrism. But their demands did not end there either. They wanted their sister, Princess Sofya Alekseevna, to take guardianship and, therefore, take the reins of government into her own hands until the brothers came of age. At the same time, Natalya and her son had to leave and live in the village of Preobrazhenskoye.
Interesting
The Armory Chamber of the Moscow Kremlin still preserves a strange rarity - a two-seat throne-chair on which young rulers sat during official events. There is a window in the back of this large chair through which they could be told what to do and how to behave correctly.
On the throne: the path of great achievements
Around the same time, Peter’s interest in military affairs awoke; he spent all his free time in Vorobyovo and Preobrazhenskoye, drilling his own Amusement Regiment, which was organized just for the games of the little tsar. In 1686, when he was only 14 years old, his regiment even had artillery. In the same year, the tsar’s first “fleet” was launched on the Yauza - two boats, a plow and a shnyak. For Peter 1, whose biography we are studying, a Dutch teacher Timmerman was hired, who taught the Tsar arithmetic, physics, geometry, and most importantly, military science, tactics and battle strategy. He needed knowledgeable and experienced people, and since he did not find such qualities among his compatriots, he practically settled in a German settlement.
In 1689, realizing her vulnerable position and looking at the tsar’s amusing regiments, Sophia attempted to usurp power, but lost. As a result, the elder brother Ivan himself gave his power to Peter the Great, and she was taken into custody. However, the tsar himself considered state affairs boring, so he left the country to his mother and the Golitsyn-Naryshkin government she created. Even after her death, Peter did not disperse this office, but achieved complete and strict obedience.
The beginning of expansion and the creation of the Russian Empire
The beginning of the reign of Peter 1 came in full just after the death of his mother and full assumption of power. This is where the great achievements of the brilliant ruler begin, which are difficult to overestimate.
- The first Azov campaign, aimed at capturing the Ottoman fortress in 1695, ended in failure, but in the fall the king began to form a new campaign.
- In May 1696, an army of forty thousand warriors finally took Azov, using the fleet and entering from the sea. In the same year they began to build Taganrog.
- In the hot summer of 1699, the first Russian large warship, called “Fortress,” was launched. It was the very existence of such a ship, which carried the ambassador to Constantinople, that convinced the Ottoman Sultan to sign a peace treaty beneficial for Russia in 1700.
- In 19697, Peter 1, as part of the Grand Embassy, called to find allies against the Ottomans, made his first trip abroad. He eagerly studied everything he could lay his hands on, and at the same time recruited many specialists whom he was going to hire for service.
- In the early autumn of 1698, the Grand Embassy was recalled home, as a Streltsy riot broke out again in Moscow. As a result, more than a thousand people were executed. In the same year, sister Sophia and the wife Evdokia, imposed on the tsar, were tonsured as a nun. From September 1 of the same year, by royal decree it was forbidden to wear beards.
- In 1700, in Western style, Peter the Great introduced the celebration of the New Year from January 31 to January 1.
- From 1701 to 1721, a fierce war between Russia and Sweden lasted for access to the Baltic, which Peter nevertheless won, at the same time receiving the status of emperor, becoming the ruler of the Russian Empire on October 22 (November 2), 1721. Meanwhile, the conflict with Turkey ended with a peace treaty; it had to surrender Azov, along with access to the sea.
- In 1716, Russia's expansion to the East continued and a detachment of Bekovich-Cherkassky was sent to Central Asia, which was destroyed by the khan. At the same time, Kamchatka was annexed to the country. Peter the Great was planning to go across the ocean to America, but he never made it.
- The Caspian (or Persian) campaign in 1722-1724 ended very successfully for the state, with the annexation of new lands, but soon after the death of Peter they were lost by his descendants.
In addition, during his reign, books began to be published, educational institutions began to open, for which the Orthodox Church, stuck in the past, could not forgive him. The tsar mostly implemented his reforms by force, which is why there was grumbling and discontent. Despite this, the results of the reign of Peter 1 are striking in their scale; he did as much for the country as he could and even much more.
