On the night of June 9, 1672, the future Russian Emperor Peter I was born. Having ascended the throne, he carried out large-scale reforms in the country and won military victories that allowed Russia to become a great power.

However, many historians criticize him for an overly rigid style of government and enthusiasm for Western orders.

Path to power

Peter was the fourteenth child born to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov, and the first in his marriage to Natalya Naryshkina.

According to historians, Peter's chances of taking the throne were initially small, but most of his older brothers died as children, and Fyodor III, who ascended the throne after the death of Alexei Mikhailovich, died in 1682, leaving no direct heirs.

By this time, Peter had only one older half-brother from his father's first marriage - Ivan, but he was sickly, and some of his contemporaries even called him weak-minded.

A group of boyars, among whom the Naryshkins (relatives of Alexei Mikhailovich's second wife, Natalya Kirillovna), played an important role, decided to enthrone Peter.

But against the background of rumors spreading throughout Moscow about the murder of Ivan Alekseevich, a streltsy uprising broke out in the city.

Some of the representatives of the party that supported the Naryshkins were killed, Ivan and Peter were declared co-rulers, and their elder sister, Princess Sophia, became the regent and de facto ruler of Russia.

As Alexei Kachalov, a specialist in the Russia - My History historical park, said in a conversation with RT, the Streltsy uprising of 1682, during which Peter's relatives died, was a severe shock for the young tsar, which gave rise to secrecy and distrust of others in his character.

After the uprising, Natalya Kirillovna and her son moved to the village of Preobrazhenskoye.

The young king at that time became interested in military games, in which his peers, stewards and servants, took part with him.

So Peter got his own "amusing" army, reminiscent of European armies in its organization.

In 1688, in the village of Izmailovo, Peter found a small boat - a small boat, brought to Russia from England at one time.

“With the advent of the boat, the life of the tsar has changed,” said Dmitry Kopelev, an associate professor at the Russian State Humanitarian University named after A.I. Herzen, in an interview with RT.

  • Portrait of young Peter I, parsuna of the second half of the 17th century

The young king had a strong interest in navigation, and then in shipbuilding.

According to experts, it was at this time that Peter had his first thoughts about creating a powerful linear fleet in Russia.

In August 1689, a conflict arose between Peter and Sophia, all the details of which are still unknown to historians.

“There was a confusing story.

Peter received news that his sister was bringing streltsy units to the Kremlin, he was afraid that she was allegedly preparing to overthrow him, and fled to the Trinity-Sergius Monastery.

At the same time, rumors reached Sophia that her brother was going to kill her.

The troops and boyars declared that they supported Peter, since he was officially the legitimate king, ”said Igor Kurukin, professor at the Russian State Humanitarian University, in a commentary on RT.

  • Princess Sophia

  • © Unknown Russian artist (1670s-1917)

As a result of the conflict, Princess Sophia was removed from power and imprisoned in the Novodevichy Convent, and Peter became not a nominal, but an actual head of state.

Ivan formally remained co-ruler of his brother until his death in 1696, but did not interfere in state affairs. 

In 1689, at the insistence of his mother, Peter married Evdokia Lopukhina, with whom he had a son, Alexei.

However, the king soon lost interest in his wife and after a while sent her to a monastery. 

Great Reformer

In the early 1690s, Peter spent a lot of time in Novonemetskaya Sloboda near Moscow, communicating with foreigners.

Then he began an affair with the German Anna Mons.

“Anna Mons is a foreigner, the daughter of a wine merchant, a girl, out of love for whom Peter especially diligently turned old Russia to face the West and turned so sharply that Russia still remains a little wryneck,” wrote historian Daniil Mordovtsev about these relations.

Peter even thought about marrying Mons, but found out that Anna was not faithful to him...

According to experts, while Peter was spending time in the Novonemetskaya Sloboda, relatives helped him in matters of government.

In particular, many state affairs were taken over by his uncle, the boyar Lev Naryshkin.

However, in the mid-1690s, the tsar made all the key political decisions on his own.

One of the main directions of his foreign policy activity was the fight against the Ottoman Empire.

In 1696, Russian troops captured the fortress of Azov located at the mouth of the Don.

This was the first major victory for the Peter's army.

A year later, Peter had a new foreign policy initiative - the "Great Embassy" went from Russia to Europe, which included the tsar himself incognito.

He visited Prussia, the Netherlands, England and other European countries, personally got acquainted with the work of factories, factories, shipyards, arsenals and foreign authorities.

In Amsterdam, Peter studied shipbuilding and received a shipbuilder's patent.

In 1698, Peter interrupted his participation in the "Great Embassy" due to the start of a new streltsy uprising.

The performances of the archers were actually suppressed when the king was still on the way.

But returning to Russia, Peter personally participated in the investigation, as well as in the torture and execution of the rebels.

He ordered to liquidate the streltsy army.

After that, the basis of the Russian army was made up of regiments organized in the European manner.

Even during the Great Embassy, ​​Peter tried to create a powerful anti-Turkish coalition in Europe, but to no avail.

He decided to refocus on fighting another long-term rival of Russia - Sweden.

Having concluded an alliance with Denmark and Saxony, Peter in 1700 entered the Northern War against the Swedish king Charles XII.

The fighting began unsuccessfully for Russia - with a defeat in the Battle of Narva.

But Peter managed to quickly restore the army and create powerful artillery.

In 1709, he completely turned the tide of the war, defeating the Swedish army that invaded Russia in the Battle of Poltava.

Sweden, despite the defeat on land, retained a strong navy.

But Peter was also able to create a powerful naval force.

In 1714, the Russian fleet won the first major victory at sea in the Battle of Gangut, and by 1721, Peter achieved the final victory in the war, as a result of which Russia received land on the shores of the Baltic Sea and acquired the status of a great power.

The territories annexed by Peter to Russia in the Baltic, and the city of St. Petersburg founded by him in 1703, later began to be figuratively called the “Window to Europe”.

This expression gained wide popularity after it was used in the poem "The Bronze Horseman" by Alexander Pushkin. 

During the war with Sweden, Peter made his mistress the captured Marta Skavronskaya (according to one version, a Latvian, according to another, a Swede by origin).

According to historians, with her housekeeping and good disposition, the girl was able to win the heart of the tsar, who had previously been unlucky in his personal life, so much that in 1711 he declared her his wife and queen under the name Catherine. 

In parallel with the fighting against Sweden, Peter tried to fight with Turkey, but failure awaited him on this front.

In 1711, the Petrine troops were defeated in the Prut campaign, and Russia had to return the Azov fortress to the Ottoman Empire.

  • The capture of the fortress of Azov, engraving by the artist Montalegre

Active hostilities required significant expenditures and exertion of the forces of the entire state.

In this regard, Peter carried out large-scale socio-economic reforms in the country.

Under him, new manufactories were actively created, enterprises of ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, weapons factories, factories for the production of fabrics, ropes, clothing and leather goods were built.

Industrialists received benefits and land from the state.

Peter officially declared the subsoil of Russia to be royal property, but at the same time he provided the opportunity to extract minerals to everyone.

There was an active industrial development of the Urals.

To protect domestic producers from foreign competitors, Peter introduced protectionist measures.

Under Peter, the status of serfs was finally determined and a rank of state peasants was formed, to which previously free people were ranked.

However, some measures were also taken to protect the peasantry - for example, serfs were forbidden to be separated from their families when sold.

Peter completed the registration of private ownership of land in Russia and, on legal grounds, formalized the estates of the peasantry and the nobility.

He developed and put into effect in Russia the Table of Ranks, according to which promotion depended on personal abilities, and not on nobility and generosity.

At the same time, public service for the nobility became mandatory, and the nobility itself was open to representatives of other classes.

  • Battle of Poltava, mosaic by M. Lomonosov

Rejecting the previously existing institutions of class representation, Peter achieved the status of an absolute monarch and in 1721 was declared emperor.

He carried out a large-scale administrative reform, introducing a collegiate system and creating new local governments.

The state was divided into provinces, provinces and districts.

The capital of Russia was moved from Moscow to St. Petersburg. 

Under Peter, culture actively developed in Russia: painting, architecture, literature and music;

attempts were made to organize a state theater.

At the household level, Peter tried to introduce European habits and customs in Russia.

In particular, this was expressed in forcing the privileged classes to shave their beards and wear European clothes.

Those who wished to keep their facial hair and wear traditional Russian clothing were fined and subjected to other forms of legal prosecution by Peter.

Peter patronized book printing and began publishing the first newspaper in Russia.

He massively sent young noblemen to study abroad, in Russia he created specialized secular educational institutions: the School of Mathematical and Navigational Sciences, the Maritime Academy, the School of Surgery and others.

Affected by Peter's reforms and the church sphere.

In 1721, he abolished the patriarchate in Russia and established the Most Holy Governing Synod, the highest body of church and state administration, reminiscent of secular colleges in its structure.

The apparatus of essay management was actually subordinate to the state. 

  • Monument to Peter I on the Senate Square in St. Petersburg

  • globallookpress.com

  • © Zamir Usmanov

In 1722-1723, Peter I carried out the Persian campaign, as a result of which vast territories in the Caucasus became part of Russia.

Peter died on February 8, 1725 in St. Petersburg.

He left no direct heir.

Tsarevich Alexei was accused by his father of treason and sentenced to death, and the sons from his marriage to Catherine died in early childhood.

After the death of the tsar, part of his entourage, with the support of the guard, enthroned Peter's widow, Empress Catherine I. 

According to MPGU professor Vitaly Zakharov, Peter ascended the throne of one country, and left behind a fundamentally different one.

“The results of Peter's reign are contradictory.

He is, without a doubt, one of our brightest tsars, and under him a huge breakthrough was made in the development of Russia in all areas.

But this happened with anguish and was often accompanied by significant casualties.

According to some estimates, about 100 thousand people died during the construction of St. Petersburg alone.

The elite under Peter adopted Western cultural values, while the people retained traditional Russian ones.

Because of this, the level of social discord increased, which later led to uprisings and revolutions, ”summed up Zakharov.