Russian Tsar Peter the Great. The reign and reforms of Peter the Great

Peter the Great is known to every Russian as the great reformer who ruled the country from 1689 to 1725. His reforms, carried out in the first quarter of the eighteenth century, according to historians, moved the country two to five centuries forward. For example, M. Shcherbatov believed that without Peter, Russia would have traveled such a path in two hundred years, and Karamzin believed that the tsar had done in twenty-five years what others would not have done in six centuries. At the same time, it is worth noting that neither one nor the other historian had much sympathy for the reign of Peter the Great, but they could not deny him the significance of the reforms carried out and the giant leap in the development of the country.

The king himself formed his retinue

The autocrat, who sat on the Russian throne, was known for his versatile development, which left a significant imprint on what the associates of Peter 1 were like. To please the tsar, one had to be a gifted, intelligent, hard-working person, like the ruler himself. And Peter the Great, it must be said, was lucky to have associates, whom he skillfully chose among the most diverse segments of the population and used their talents for the benefit of the Russian state.

Among the comrades-in-arms of the autocrat were people from courtyards

Some associates of Peter 1, whose list is significant, grew up with the tsar together from an early age. It is known that Alexander Danilovich Menshikov came from a simple family and worked as a pastry maker in his youth, when he accidentally met the then young tsar. Peter liked the lively boy, and Aleksashka (as he was then called) became a soldier in an amusing company and the orderly of the heir to the throne. In 1697, Menshikov was sent abroad to study shipbuilding, where he was inseparable from the tsar. During these years, the boy showed the qualities that the king was looking for in his favorites. He was devoted, zealous, observant. He well adopted the rational way of thinking of his master, had a high capacity for work and did things with full dedication. Menshikov proved himself excellently as the governor of Shlisselburg and military commander during the operation near Noteburg.

Former pie-maker Menshikov successfully commanded regiments

The closest associate of Peter 1 showed himself excellently in other fields as well. It is known that it was he who organized the search for ores for the Baltic Plant, when it was necessary to cast guns. In 1703, together with Peter Menshikov, he developed a plan to clear the mouth of the Neva from the enemy. In 1704, Alexander Danilovich carried out a brilliant operation to capture Narva, and by this time he was no longer a servant, but a comrade and colleague of the great Russian emperor. His merits were noted by the autocrat in 1706, when the former pastry maker received the title of Prince of the Holy Roman Empire. The great prince now, however, remained the same temperamental, assertive, adventurous person and personally participated in some battles. For example, near Perevolognaya, his dragoons captured 16.2 thousand enemy people.

Alexander Menshikov, an associate of Peter 1, actively participated in the development of the northern capital, and in 1712 he commanded Russian troops in Pomerania, where he won another victory. After that, the favorite of the king did not participate in military operations due to unhealthy lungs. In the civil service, he proved to be no less effective, performing the duties of the governor of the capital lands, senator and president of the Military Collegium. In addition, Menshikov carried out numerous personal assignments of the autocrat, including in relation to the children of the king.

An old Russian tradition: everyone steals!

The favorite, who, according to some sources, was illiterate until the end of his days, which did not differ from the rest of the associates of Peter 1, participated in the investigation and personally compiled a list of people who signed the death sentence for the prince. After such cases, Menshikov became especially close with Peter, who did not punish him significantly for embezzlement (the total amount stolen was gigantic - 1,581,519 rubles). Under Peter the Second, Menshikov fell into disgrace, was stripped of all ranks and titles, and sent to Ranienburg, then to Berezov, where he died in 1729, outliving his king by four years. But before that, from 1725 to 1727, during the reign of Catherine, the wife of the deceased tsar, he was in fact the uncrowned ruler of the richest empire of that time.

From Lithuanian swineherds to the Senate

What other characters do historians attribute to the associates of Peter 1? This list can begin with Prince Romodanovsky. You can also include Prince M. Golitsyn, Counts Golovins, Prince Y. Dolgoruky, Baron P. P. Shafirov, Baron Osterman, B. K. Minikh, Tatishchev, Neplyuev, Lefort, Gordon, T. Streshnev, A. Makarov, Ya. V. Bruce, P. M. Apraksin, B. Sheremetiev, P. Tolstoy. Peter the Great recruited people he liked everywhere and included them in his team. For example, it is believed that the chief of police of St. Petersburg, Devier, was a cabin boy on a Portuguese ship, Yaguzhinsky, as some facts indicate, before the heyday of his career as prosecutor general of the Senate, was a swineherd in Lithuania. Kurbatov, the inventor of stamped paper and vice-governor of Arkhangelsk, came out of the yard people and so on. And all this "motley" company, which was made up of associates of Peter 1, took away the powers of the old boyar nobility.

Conflicts between noble and rootless assistants to the king took place

Although among the assistants of the great autocrat there were people with more than an outstanding pedigree. For example, Boris Petrovich Sheremetev was of a noble family, served as a stolnik, received a boyar title and worked in an embassy under her overthrow, he was forgotten for many years. However, during the Azov campaigns, the tsar needed Sheremetev's talent as a military commander, and Boris Petrovich justified the hopes placed on him. After that, Sheremetev perfectly fulfilled the diplomatic mission in Austria and the Commonwealth and pretty much liked the king for his good and quick training in Western manners in dress and behavior.

Many associates of Peter 1 participated in the military campaigns of their king. This fate did not bypass B. Sheremetev either. His talent as a commander showed up in 1701, when he defeated the Swedes with a grouping of 21,000 people, while the Russians lost only nine soldiers dead. In 1702, Sheremetev captured Eastern Livonia, in 1703 he took the Oreshek fortress, and that was the end of his victories and proximity to the tsar, since Peter considered Sheremetev too slow, too prudent, but recognizing that he would not send soldiers to death in vain. Sheremetev, as a born aristocrat, was disgusted by the simple behavior of the tsar and the company of the rest, unborn favorites. Therefore, the relationship between the tsar and the field marshal was somewhat official.

A descendant of the English kings in the service of Peter the Great

An associate of Peter 1 who arrived from Scotland deserved special love among the Russian nobility, and among ordinary people, and among foreigners from the royal entourage. Gordon Patrick (in Russia - Peter Ivanovich) was not of a simple family, since in a straight line his genes ascended to the king England, Charles II. He graduated from the Datzig Brausbor College, served in the Swedish troops, was captured by the Poles, from where, noticed by the ambassador in Warsaw, Leontiev, he was transferred to serve in Russia, where he showed himself well in the army and received the rank of lieutenant general, was appointed to an administrative position in Kiev.

Then Gordon incurred displeasure and was demoted, but later reinstated in rank and appointed commander of the Butyrsky regiment. In 1687, young Peter the Great held a review of this army unit and was imbued with sympathy for a foreigner, which strengthened in 1689, during the events that led to the removal of Princess Sophia from government. After the Trinity campaign, the general, an associate of Peter 1, Patrick Gordon, became the autocrat's teacher in military affairs. He does not give him a complete theoretical education, but conducts many conversations, supported by practical actions. In 1695-1696. Gordon takes part in the siege of Azov, in 1696, with his help, the uprising of the archers is suppressed. This respected man in his time died in 1699, without finding major reforms in the Russian army. It should be noted that the ranks of Field Marshal under Peter were held by such of his associates as Y. V. Bruce, B. K. Minikh, and B. P. Sheremetev.

He founded the area of ​​modern Moscow

The admiral, an associate of Peter 1, died, like Gordon, in 1699, at the age of 43. He came from a wealthy family and was born in Geneva. He arrived in Russia in 1675, as here he was promised the rank of captain. Lefort's successful career was facilitated by his marriage to the cousin of P. Gordon's first wife. He participated in the wars with the Tatars in Little Russian Ukraine, in both during the reign of Sophia he enjoyed the favor of Prince Golitsyn. Since 1690, Lefort, as a charming, sharp-minded, courageous man, was noticed by Peter the Great and became his good friend, promoting European culture to the Russian environment. In Moscow, he founded Lefortovo Sloboda, accompanied the tsar on trips to the White Sea, Lake Pereyaslavskoe. He also participated in the idea of ​​the Great Embassy from Russia to the European powers, which he headed.

never was an ally of Peter the Great

Some inhabitants believe that the associate of Peter 1, Potemkin Grigory Aleksandrovich, made a great contribution to the development of the Russian state. One can argue about the role of Potemkin in this process for a long time, but it must be taken into account that he could not be an ally of Peter the Great in his deeds, since he was born in 1739, fourteen years after the death of the great autocrat. Therefore, Potemkin's activity falls on the period of the reign of Catherine II, whose favorite was this statesman.

Peter I Alekseevich the Great. Born May 30 (June 9), 1672 - died January 28 (February 8), 1725. The last tsar of all Rus' (since 1682) and the first All-Russian Emperor (since 1721).

As a representative of the Romanov dynasty, Peter was proclaimed king at the age of 10, 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 interest in the sciences and a foreign way of life, Peter was the first of the Russian tsars to make a long journey to the countries of Western Europe. Upon returning from it, in 1698, Peter launched large-scale reforms of the Russian state and social order.

One of the main achievements of Peter was the solution of the task set in the 16th century: the expansion of Russian territories in the Baltic region after the victory in the Great Northern War, which allowed him to take 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 opposed assessments of both the personality of Peter I and his role in the history of Russia.

In the official Russian historiography, Peter was considered to be 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 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 of May 180, on the 30th day, for the prayers of the holy Father, God forgave Our Queen and the Great Princess Natalia Kirillovna, and gave birth to Us a son, the Blessed Tsarevich and Grand Duke Peter Alekseevich of All Great and Small and White Russia, and his name day is June 29th.

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

The father - the tsar - had numerous offspring: Peter I was the 14th child, but the first from his second wife, Tsaritsa Natalya Naryshkina.

June 29 on the day of St. Apostles Peter and Paul, the prince was baptized in the Miracle Monastery (according to other sources in the church of Gregory of Neocaesarea, in Derbitsy), by archpriest Andrei Savinov and named Peter. 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 as . It was not found either among the Romanovs or the Naryshkins. The last representative of the Moscow Rurik dynasty with that name was Pyotr Dmitrievich, who died in 1428.

After spending a year with the queen, he was given to the education of nannies. In the 4th year of Peter's life, in 1676, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich died. The guardian of the tsarevich was his half-brother, godfather and new tsar Fyodor Alekseevich. Peter received a poor education, and until the end of his life he wrote with errors, using a poor vocabulary. This was due to the fact that the then Patriarch of Moscow, Joachim, as part of the fight against “Latinization” and “foreign influence”, removed from the royal court the students of Simeon of Polotsk, who taught Peter’s older brothers, and insisted that worse educated clerks be engaged in Peter’s education. 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 secondary 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.

The clerks taught Peter to read and write from 1676 to 1680. Peter was able to subsequently compensate for the shortcomings of basic education with rich practical exercises.

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

Streltsy revolt of 1682. Princess Sofia 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 older, sickly Ivan, according to custom, or the young Peter.

Enlisting the support of Patriarch Joachim, the Naryshkins and their supporters on April 27 (May 7), 1682, elevated Peter to the throne. In fact, the Naryshkin clan came to power and Artamon Matveev, summoned from exile, declared the “great guardian”.

Supporters found it difficult to support their pretender, who could not reign due to extremely poor health. The organizers of the actual palace coup announced a version of the hand-written transfer of the “scepter” by the dying Fyodor Alekseevich to his younger brother Peter, but there was no reliable evidence of this.

The Miloslavskys, relatives of Tsarevich Ivan and by their mother, saw in the proclamation of Peter the Tsar an infringement of their interests. Streltsy, of which there were more than 20 thousand in Moscow, have long shown discontent and willfulness. Apparently, instigated by the Miloslavskys, on May 15 (May 25), 1682, they spoke openly: shouting that the Naryshkins had strangled Tsarevich Ivan, they moved to the Kremlin.

Natalya Kirillovna, hoping to calm the rebels, together with the patriarch and the boyars, led Peter and his brother to the Red Porch. However, the uprising was not over. In the first hours, the boyars Artamon Matveev and Mikhail Dolgoruky were killed, then other supporters of Queen Natalia, including her two brothers Naryshkins.

On May 26, elected representatives from the archery regiments came to the palace and demanded that the elder Ivan be recognized as the first tsar, and the younger Peter as the second. Fearing a repetition of the pogrom, the boyars agreed, and Patriarch Joachim immediately performed a solemn prayer service in the Assumption Cathedral for the health of the two named kings. On June 25, he crowned them to the kingdom.

On May 29, the archers insisted that Princess Sofya Alekseevna take over the government due to the infancy of her brothers. Tsarina Natalya Kirillovna, together with her son Peter, the second tsar, had to retire from the court to a palace near Moscow in the village of Preobrazhensky. In the Armory of the Kremlin, a double throne for young tsars with a small window in the back was preserved, through which Princess Sophia and those close to her 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 "amusing" army, which consisted of peers in boyish games.

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

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

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

Here was quartered created by Peter "The Most Joking, The Most Drunk and the Most Maddened Cathedral"- a parody of the Orthodox Church. The fortress itself was named Preshburg, probably after the then famous Austrian fortress Presburg (now Bratislava - the capital of Slovakia), which he heard about from Captain Sommer.

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

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

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

There were already two "amusing" regiments: Semyonovsky, located in the village of Semyonovskoye, was added to Preobrazhensky. Preshburg already looked like a real fortress. Knowledgeable and experienced people were needed to command regiments and study military science. But among the Russian courtiers there were none. So Peter appeared in the German settlement.

The first marriage of Peter I

The German settlement was the closest "neighbor" of the village of Preobrazhenskoye, and Peter had been looking at her life with curiosity for a long time. An increasing number of foreigners at the court of Tsar Peter, such as Franz Timmermann and Karsten Brandt, came from the German Quarter. All this imperceptibly led to the fact that the king became a frequent guest in the settlement, where he soon turned out to be a great admirer of the laid-back foreign life.

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

To reason with her 17-year-old son, Natalya Kirillovna decided to marry him to Evdokia Lopukhina, the daughter of a roundabout.

Peter did not argue with 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 left for a few days at Lake Pleshcheyevo.

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

Accession of Peter I

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

Campaigns against the Crimean Tatars, carried out in 1687 and 1689 by the favorite of the princess, Prince Vasily Golitsyn, were not very successful, but were presented as major and generously rewarded victories, which caused discontent among many.

On July 8, 1689, on the feast of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, the first public conflict took place between the matured Peter and the Ruler.

On that day, according to custom, a religious procession was made from the Kremlin to the Kazan Cathedral. At the end of mass, Peter approached his sister and announced that she should not dare to go along with the men in the procession. Sophia accepted the challenge: she took the image of the Most Holy Theotokos in her hands and went for crosses and banners. Unprepared for such an outcome, Peter left the course.

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

Shaklovity gathered archery regiments in order to march in a "great assembly" to Preobrazhenskoye and beat all the supporters of Peter for their intention to kill Princess Sophia. Then they sent three riders to observe what was happening in Preobrazhensky with the task to immediately inform if Tsar Peter went somewhere alone or with regiments.

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

On August 8, both queens, Natalya and Evdokia, arrived at the monastery, followed by “amusing” regiments with artillery.

On August 16, a letter came from Peter, so that from all the regiments commanders and 10 privates were sent to the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. Princess Sophia strictly forbade this command to be carried out on pain of death, and a letter was sent to Tsar Peter with a notice that it was impossible to fulfill his request.

On August 27, a new letter of tsar Peter came - to go to all the regiments to the Trinity. Most of the troops obeyed the legitimate king, and Princess Sophia had to admit defeat. She herself went to the Trinity Monastery, but in the village of Vozdvizhenskoye she was met by Peter's envoys with orders to return to Moscow.

Soon Sophia was imprisoned in the Novodevichy Convent under strict supervision.

On October 7, Fyodor Shaklovity was captured and then executed. The elder brother, Tsar Ivan (or John), met Peter in the Assumption Cathedral and in fact gave him all power.

Since 1689, he did not take part in the reign, although until his death on January 29 (February 8), 1696, he nominally continued to be co-tsar.

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

The most important decisions (declaration of war, election of the Patriarch, etc.) were made without taking into account the opinion of the young tsar. This led to conflicts. For example, at the beginning of 1692, offended by the fact that, contrary to his will, the Moscow government refused to resume the war with the Ottoman Empire, the tsar did not want to return from Pereyaslavl to meet the Persian ambassador, and the first persons of the government of Natalya 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 Preobrazhenskoye, the “appointment” of N. M. Zotov to “all Yauza and all Kokuy 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 begin to remove the government of L.K. Naryshkin - B.A. Golitsyn, formed by his mother, but he ensured that it strictly carried out 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. Instead of campaigns against the Crimea, undertaken during the reign of Princess Sophia, Peter I decided 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 far from supply bases. However, already in the autumn of 1695, preparations began for a new campaign. In Voronezh, the construction of a rowing Russian flotilla began.

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

In May 1696, the 40,000-strong Russian army under the command of Generalissimo Shein again laid siege to Azov, only this time the Russian flotilla blocked the fortress from the sea. Peter I took part in the siege with the rank of captain in a galley. Without waiting for the assault, on July 19, 1696, the fortress surrendered. So the first exit of Russia to the southern seas was opened.

The result of the Azov campaigns was the capture of the fortress of Azov, the beginning of the construction of the port of Taganrog, the possibility of an attack on the Crimean peninsula from the sea, which significantly secured the southern borders of Russia. However, Peter failed to get access to the Black Sea through the Kerch Strait: he remained under the control of the Ottoman Empire. Forces for the war with Turkey, as well as a full-fledged navy, Russia has not yet had.

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

In the summer of 1699, the first large Russian ship "Fortress" (46-gun) took the Russian ambassador to Constantinople for peace negotiations. The very existence of such a ship persuaded the Sultan to conclude peace in July 1700, which left the fortress of Azov behind Russia.

During the construction of the fleet and the reorganization of the army, Peter was forced to rely on foreign specialists. Having completed the Azov campaigns, he decides to send young nobles for training abroad, and soon he himself sets off on his first trip to Europe.

Grand Embassy 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, head of the Ambassadorial Order P. B. Voznitsyn were appointed Grand Plenipotentiary Ambassadors.

In total, up to 250 people entered the embassy, ​​among which, under the name of the constable of the Preobrazhensky regiment Peter Mikhailov, was Tsar Peter I himself. For the first time, the Russian Tsar undertook a trip outside his state.

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

The embassy recruited several hundred shipbuilding specialists to Russia and purchased military and other equipment.

In addition to negotiations, Peter devoted a lot of time to the study of shipbuilding, military affairs and other sciences. Peter worked as a carpenter at the shipyards of the East India Company, with the participation of the king, the ship "Peter and Paul" was built.

In England, he visited a foundry, an arsenal, parliament, Oxford University, the Greenwich Observatory and the Mint, whose caretaker at that time was Isaac Newton. He was primarily interested in the technical achievements of Western countries, and not in the legal system.

It is said that when Peter visited the Palace of Westminster, he saw there "lawyers", that is, barristers, in their robes and wigs. He asked: “What kind of people are these and what are they doing here?” They answered him: "These are all lawyers, Your Majesty." "Legalists! Peter was surprised. - Why are they? There are only two lawyers in my whole kingdom, and I propose 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 tell the king clearly the truth, this should be learned from the British.”

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

Peter in Russia

In July 1698, the Great Embassy was interrupted by the news of a new streltsy rebellion in Moscow, which was suppressed even before the arrival of Peter. Upon the arrival of the tsar in Moscow (August 25), a search and inquiry began, the result of which was a one-time execution of about 800 archers(except for those executed during the suppression of the rebellion), and subsequently several hundred more until the spring of 1699.

Princess Sophia was tonsured a nun under the name of Susanna and sent to the Novodevichy Convent where she spent the rest of her life. The same fate befell Peter's unloved wife - Evdokia Lopukhina, who was forcibly sent to the Suzdal Monastery even against the will of the clergy.

During the 15 months of his stay abroad, Peter saw a lot and learned a lot. After the return of the tsar on August 25, 1698, his reforming activity began, initially aimed at changing the external signs that distinguish the Old Slavonic way of life from the Western European.

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

“I want to transform secular goats, that is, citizens, and the clergy, that is, monks and priests. First, that without beards they should look good like Europeans, and others, so that, although with beards, they would teach parishioners in churches Christian virtues in the same way that I saw and heard pastors teaching in Germany..

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

In his special decree it was written: “Because in Russia they consider the New Year in different ways, from now on stop fooling people's heads and count the New Year everywhere from the first of January. And as a sign of a good undertaking and fun, congratulate each other on the New Year, wishing well-being in business and prosperity in the family. In honor of the New Year, make decorations from fir trees, amuse children, ride sleds from the mountains. And for adults, drunkenness and massacre should not be committed - there are enough other days for that ”.

Northern War 1700-1721

Kozhukhovsky maneuvers (1694) showed Peter the advantage of the regiments of the "foreign system" over the archers. The Azov campaigns, in which four regular regiments took part (Preobrazhensky, Semyonovsky, Lefortovsky and Butyrsky regiments), finally convinced Peter of the low 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 the war with Sweden, Peter ordered in 1699 to make a general recruitment and begin training recruits according to the model established by the Preobrazhensky 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 impatience of the king, he was eager to enter the war and test his army in action. Management, a combat support service, a strong equipped rear still had to be created.

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

In 1699, the Northern Alliance was created against the Swedish king Charles XII, which, in addition to Russia, included Denmark, Saxony and the Commonwealth, led by the Saxon elector and the Polish king August II. The driving force behind the union was the desire of Augustus II to take away Livonia from Sweden. For help, he promised Russia the return of lands that previously belonged to the Russians (Ingermanland and Karelia).

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

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

The beginning of the war for Peter was discouraging: the newly recruited army, handed over 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 virtually all over again.

Considering that Russia was sufficiently weakened, Charles XII went to Livonia in order to direct all his forces against Augustus II.

However, Peter, continuing the reforms of the army according to the European model, resumed hostilities. Already in the autumn of 1702, the Russian army, in the presence of the tsar, captured the Noteburg fortress (renamed Shlisselburg), in the spring of 1703, the Nienschanz fortress at the mouth of the Neva.

On May 10 (21), 1703, for the bold capture of two Swedish ships at the mouth of the Neva, Peter (then held the rank of captain of the Bombardier Company of the Life Guards of the Preobrazhensky Regiment) received a certificate approved by him Order of Saint 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 Derpt and Narva, Russia gained a foothold in the Eastern Baltic. On the offer to make peace, Peter I was refused. After the deposition of Augustus II in 1706 and his replacement by the Polish king Stanisław Leszczynski, Charles XII began his fatal 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 Mazepa, Karl moved 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 Lewenhaupt, which was going to join the army of Charles XII from Livonia. The Swedish army lost reinforcements and convoys with military supplies. Later, Peter celebrated the anniversary of this battle as a turning point in the Northern War.

In 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 schautbenacht from the blue flag.

Türkiye intervened in 1710. After the defeat in the Prut campaign in 1711, Russia returned Azov to Turkey and destroyed Taganrog, but due to this, it was possible to conclude another truce with the Turks.

Peter again focused on the war with the Swedes, in 1713 the Swedes were defeated in Pomerania and lost all possessions in continental Europe. However, thanks to the dominance of Sweden at sea, the Northern War dragged on. The Baltic Fleet was just being created by Russia, but managed to win the first victory in the Gangut battle in the summer of 1714.

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

As the Russian Baltic Fleet strengthened, Sweden felt the danger of an invasion of its lands. In 1718, peace negotiations began, interrupted by the sudden death of Charles XII. The Swedish queen Ulrika Eleonora resumed the war, hoping for help from England.

The devastating landings of the Russians in 1720 on the Swedish coast prompted Sweden to resume negotiations. August 30 (September 10), 1721 between Russia and Sweden was concluded Peace of Nystadt, which ended the 21-year war.

Russia received access to the Baltic Sea, annexed the territory of Ingria, part of Karelia, Estonia and Livonia. Russia became a great European power, in commemoration of which on October 22 (November 2), 1721 Peter, at the request of the senators, took the title of Father of the Fatherland, Emperor of All Russia, Peter the Great: "... we thought, with the butt of the ancients, especially the Roman and Greek peoples, the boldness to perceive, on the day of the celebration and the announcement of the only glorious and prosperous world concluded by these century labors throughout Russia, after reading the treatise thereof in the church, according to our most humble gratitude for the intercession of this world, to bring his petition to you publicly, so that he deigns to accept from us, as from his faithful subjects, in gratitude the title of the Father of the Fatherland, the Emperor of All Russia, Peter the Great, as usual from the Roman Senate for the noble deeds of emperors, their such titles publicly presented to them as a gift and signed on statutes for memory in eternal childbirth"(Senators' petition 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 possessions of the Ottoman Empire, the city of Bendery. Peter I concluded an agreement with Turkey on the expulsion of Charles XII from Turkish territory, but then the Swedish king was allowed to stay and threaten the southern border of Russia with the help of part of the Ukrainian Cossacks and Crimean Tatars.

Seeking the expulsion of Charles XII, Peter I began to threaten Turkey with war, but in response, on November 20, 1710, the Sultan himself declared war on Russia. The real cause of the war was the capture of Azov by Russian troops in 1696 and the appearance of the Russian fleet in the Sea of ​​Azov.

The Turkish war was limited to a winter raid of the Crimean Tatars, vassals of the Ottoman Empire, into Ukraine. Russia waged war on 3 fronts: the troops made campaigns against the Tatars in the Crimea and the Kuban, Peter I himself, relying on the help of the rulers of Wallachia and Moldavia, decided to make a deep campaign to the Danube, where he hoped to raise Christian vassals of the Ottoman Empire to fight the Turks.

On March 6 (17), 1711, Peter I went to the troops from Moscow with his faithful girlfriend Ekaterina Alekseevna, whom he ordered to be considered his wife and queen (even before the official wedding, which took place in 1712).

The army crossed the border of Moldova in June 1711, but already on July 20, 1711, 190 thousand Turks and Crimean Tatars pressed the 38 thousandth Russian army to the right bank of the Prut River, completely surrounding it. In a seemingly hopeless situation, Peter managed to conclude the Prut peace treaty with the Grand Vizier, according to which the army and the tsar himself escaped capture, but in return Russia gave Azov to Turkey and lost access to the Sea of ​​Azov.

From August 1711, there was no fighting, although in the process of negotiating the final treaty, Turkey threatened several times to resume the war. Only in June 1713 was the 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 gains of the Azov campaigns.

The expansion of Russia to the east under Peter I did not stop. In 1716, the Buchholz expedition founded Omsk at the confluence of the Irtysh and Om., 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 citizenship and reconnoitering 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 (intentioning 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 the son of the Persian Shah Tokhmas Mirza applied for help, a 22,000-strong Russian detachment sailed from Astrakhan across the Caspian Sea. In August, Derbent surrendered, after which the Russians returned to Astrakhan due to problems with provisions.

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

On September 12, 1723, the Petersburg Treaty was concluded with Persia, according to which the western and southern coasts of the Caspian Sea with the cities of Derbent and Baku and the provinces of Gilan, Mazandaran and Astrabad were included in the Russian Empire. Russia and Persia also entered into a defensive alliance against Turkey, which, however, turned out to be inoperative.

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

Russian Empire under Peter I

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

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

Secretary of the Prussian Embassy in Russia in 1717-1733, I.-G. Fokkerodt, at the request of who was working on the history of the reign of Peter, wrote memoirs about Russia under Peter. Fokkerodt tried to estimate the population of the Russian Empire by the end of the reign of Peter I. According to his information, the number of taxpayers was 5 million 198 thousand people, from which the number of peasants and townspeople, including females, was estimated at about 10 million.

Many souls were concealed by the landlords, the second revision increased the number of taxable souls to almost 6 million people.

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

The inhabitants of the conquered regions, who were not under the total tax, were estimated to be from 500 to 600 thousand souls. Cossacks with families in the Ukraine, on the Don and Yaik, and in the border towns were considered to be from 700 to 800 thousand souls. The number of Siberian peoples was unknown, but Fokkerodt put it up to a million people.

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

According to the calculations of the Soviet historian Yaroslav Vodarsky, the number of males and children increased from 5.6 million to 7.8 million from 1678 to 1719. Thus, assuming the number of women is approximately equal to the number of men, the total population of Russia during this period grew from 11.2 to 15.6 million

Reforms of Peter I

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

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

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

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

Financial reform was also carried out, measures were taken to develop industry and trade.

After returning from the Great Embassy, ​​Peter I led the fight against the external manifestations of the "outdated" way of life (the most famous ban on beards), 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, translations of many books into Russian appeared. Success in the service of Peter made the nobles dependent on education.

Peter was clearly aware of the need for enlightenment, and took a number of drastic 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 naval academy in St. Petersburg, mining schools at the Olonets and Ural factories.

In 1705, the first gymnasium in Russia was opened.

The goals of mass education were to be served by the digital schools created by decree of 1714 in provincial cities, called upon "to teach children of all ranks to read and write, numbers and geometry."

It was supposed to create two such schools in each province, where education was supposed to be free. For soldiers' children, garrison schools were opened, for the training of priests, starting from 1721, a network of theological schools was created.

Peter's decrees introduced compulsory education for nobles and clergy, but a similar measure for the urban population met with fierce resistance and was canceled.

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

Peter created new printing houses, in which 1312 titles of books were printed in 1700-1725 (twice as many as in the entire previous history of Russian book printing). Thanks to the rise of printing, paper consumption increased from 4,000 to 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 included 4.5 thousand new words borrowed from European languages.

In 1724, Peter approved the charter of the Academy of Sciences being organized (it 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 unfamiliar forms of life and pastime (theatre, 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 in Russia. At the assemblies, the nobles danced and mingled freely, unlike earlier 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 XVIII 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 ordering to write full names in petitions and other documents instead of pejorative half-names (Ivashka, Senka, etc.), not to fall on your knees before the king, to wear a hat in the cold in winter in front of the house where the king is, do not shoot. He explained the need for these innovations as follows: “Less meanness, 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) forbade forced marriage and marriage.

It was prescribed that there should be at least six weeks between the betrothal and the wedding, "so that the bride and groom may 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 parents insist, "in being free".

Since 1702, the bride herself (and not just her relatives) was given the formal right to terminate the betrothal and upset the arranged marriage, and neither of the parties had the right to “strike with a forfeit”.

Legislative prescriptions 1696-1704 about public festivities introduced the obligation to participate in the celebrations and festivities of all Russians, including "female".

From the “old” in the structure of the nobility under Peter, the former serfdom 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. Now they were 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 ones and arose anew.

The decree of uniform inheritance of 1714 regulated the legal status of the nobility and secured the legal merger of such forms of land ownership as patrimony and estate.

From the reign of Peter I, the peasants began to be divided into serfs (landlords), monastic and state peasants. All three categories were recorded in the revision tales and subjected to a poll tax.

Since 1724, the owner's peasants could leave their villages to work and for other needs only with the written permission of the master, witnessed by the zemstvo commissar and the colonel of the regiment that was stationed in the area. Thus, the landowner's power over the personality of the peasants received even more opportunities to increase, taking both the personality and property of the privately owned peasant into their unaccountable disposal. From that time on, this new state of the rural worker received the name of the "serf" or "revisionist" soul.

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

Gradually, among the nobility, a different system of values, worldview, aesthetic ideas took shape, which was fundamentally different from the values ​​and worldview of most representatives of other estates. At the same time, the people's forces were extremely depleted, the prerequisites (Decree of Succession) were created for the crisis of the supreme power, which led to the "epoch of palace coups".

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

During the Great Embassy, ​​the tsar studied various aspects of European life, including technical ones. He learned the basics of the then dominant economic theory - mercantilism.

The mercantilists based their economic doctrine on two propositions: first, each nation, in order not to become impoverished, must produce everything it needs, without turning to the help of other people's labor, the labor of other peoples; second, every nation, in order to grow rich, must export as much as possible the manufactured products from its country 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. Only in the Urals, at least 27 metallurgical plants were built under Peter. Gunpowder factories, sawmills, glass manufactories 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 manufactories built during his reign. The largest were shipyards (3.5 thousand people worked at the St. Petersburg shipyard alone), sailing manufactories and mining and metallurgical plants (25 thousand workers worked at 9 Ural factories), there were a number of other enterprises with a number of employees from 500 to 1000 people.

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

Peter's transformations were achieved through violence against the population, its complete subordination 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, written with a whip", as if "broke out of an impatient autocratic landowner."

Klyuchevsky points out that the triumph of the absolute monarchy, which sought to drag its subjects from the Middle Ages into the present by force, contained a fundamental contradiction: "Peter's reform was a struggle of despotism with the people, with their inertia. He hoped, by a storm of power, to provoke self-activity in an enslaved society and through the slave-owning nobility to establish European science in Russia... wanted the slave, 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 as part of natural labor service. They felled the forest, filled up the swamps, built embankments, etc.

In 1704, up to 40,000 working people were summoned to St. Petersburg from various provinces, mostly serfs, landlords and state peasants. In 1707, many workers fled, sent to St. Petersburg from the Belozersky region. Peter I ordered to take the family members of the fugitives - their fathers, mothers, wives, children "or who live in their houses" and keep them in prisons until the fugitives are found.

The factory workers of the time of Peter the Great came from a wide variety of strata of the population: runaway serfs, vagabonds, beggars, even criminals - all of them, according to strict orders, were taken and sent to “work” in factories.

Peter could not stand "walking" people who were not attached to any business, it was ordered to seize 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 working hands, villages and villages of peasants were attributed to factories and factories, as was still practiced in the 17th century. Such assigned to the factory worked for it and in it by order of the owner.

In November 1702, a decree was issued stating: “From now on, in Moscow and in the Moscow Judgment Order, no matter what ranks, people or from cities governors and clerks, and from monasteries to send authorities, and landowners and estates will bring their people and peasants, and those people and peasants will learn to say behind themselves“ the sovereign’s word and deed,” and without asking those people in the Moscow Court Order, send them to the Preobrazhensky Order to the steward to Prince Fedor Yuryevich Romodanovsky. Yes, and in the cities, governors and clerks of such people who will teach themselves to say “the sovereign’s word and deed”, send them to Moscow without asking”.

In 1718, the Secret Chancellery was created to investigate the case of Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich., then other political cases 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 up." The non-informer about this was also supposed to be 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 kings power over the nations, but Christ alone has power over the conscience of the people.” But this decree did not apply to the Old Believers.

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

Those who did not confess and did not pay double tax were ordered to be fined, each time increasing the rate of the fine, and even sent to hard labor. For seduction into schism (seduction was considered any Old Believer worship or the performance of trebs), as before Peter I, the death penalty was due, which was confirmed in 1722.

Old Believer priests were declared either schismatic teachers, if they were Old Believer mentors, or traitors to Orthodoxy, if they used to be priests, and they were punished for both. Schismatic sketes and chapels were ruined. Through torture, punishment with a whip, tearing out of the nostrils, threats of executions 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 "fallen into schism" again. Deacon Alexander Pitirim, who headed the Kerzhensky Old Believers, forced him to renounce the Old Believers, shackling him and threatening him with beatings, as a result of which the deacon “feared from him, from the bishop, great torment, and exile, and nostrils of tearing, as if it had been done to others.”

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

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

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 with his mother in terms that were alien to Peter's reformist activities. The rest of the children of Peter and Evdokia died shortly after birth. In 1698, Evdokia Lopukhina was involved in the Streltsy rebellion, the purpose of which was to raise her son to the kingdom, and was exiled to a monastery.

Alexei Petrovich, the official heir to the Russian throne, condemned the transformation of his father, and eventually fled to Vienna under the 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, sentenced Alexei to death, finding him guilty of high treason. On June 26 (July 7), 1718, the prince, without waiting for the execution of the sentence, died in the Peter and Paul Fortress.

The true cause of the death of Tsarevich Alexei has not yet been reliably established. From his marriage with Princess Charlotte of Brunswick, Tsarevich Alexei left his son Peter Alekseevich (1715-1730), who became Emperor Peter II in 1727, and his daughter Natalia Alekseevna (1714-1728).

In 1703, Peter I met 19-year-old Katerina, nee Marta Samuilovna Skavronskaya(the widow of the dragoon Johann Kruse), captured by Russian troops as war booty during the capture of the Swedish fortress of Marienburg.

Peter took the former maid from the Baltic peasants from Alexander Menshikov and made her his mistress. In 1704, Katerina gave birth to their first child, named Peter, the next year, Pavel (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, knew how to calm Peter's attacks of convulsive headache with kindness and patient attention. The sound of Katerina's voice calmed Peter. Then she “sitting him down and taking it, caressing it, by the head, which she scratched lightly. This had 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 breast, sitting motionless for two or three hours. After that, he woke up completely fresh and vigorous.

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

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

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

After the death of Peter in January 1725, Ekaterina Alekseevna, with the support of the serving nobility and guards regiments, became the first ruling Russian empress, but she did not reign 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 managed to see 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 until his arrest. He was married in 1711 to Princess Sophia-Charlotte of Braunschweig-Wolfenbittel, sister of Elizabeth, wife of Emperor Charles VI. Children: Natalya (1714-28) and Peter (1715-30), later Emperor Peter II.

Alexander 10/03/1691 05/14/1692

Alexander Petrovich died in 1692.

Paul 1693 - 1693

He was 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 a son, Karl Peter Ulrich (later Russian Emperor Peter III).

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

Natalia 03/03/1713 - 05/27/1715

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

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

Decree of Peter I on the succession to the throne

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

Tsarevich Pyotr Petrovich (1715-1719, son of Ekaterina Alekseevna), announced at the abdication of Alexei Petrovich as heir to the throne, died in childhood.

The son of Tsarevich Alexei and Princess Charlotte, Peter Alekseevich, became the direct heir. However, if you follow the custom and declare the son of the disgraced Alexei the heir, then the hopes of the opponents of the reforms to return the old order were aroused, and on the other hand, fears arose among Peter's associates, who voted for the execution of Alexei.

On February 5 (16), 1722, Peter issued a Decree on the succession to the throne (cancelled by Paul I 75 years later), in which he abolished the ancient custom of transferring the throne to direct male descendants, but allowed the appointment of any worthy person as heir at the will of the monarch. The text of this most important decree justified the need for this measure: "what for it was prudent to do this charter, so that it was always in the will of the ruling sovereign, to whom he wants, to determine the inheritance, and to the determined one, seeing what obscenity, he will cancel, so that children and descendants do not fall into such anger, as it is written above, having this bridle on you".

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

Peter Alekseevich was removed from the throne, but the question of succession to the throne remained open. Many believed that either Anna or Elizabeth, Peter's daughter from his marriage to Ekaterina Alekseevna, would take the throne.

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

Peter and his nieces, the daughters of Ivan's older brother, were not satisfied: Anna Kurlyandskaya, Ekaterina Mecklenburgskaya and Praskovya Ioannovna. Only one candidate remained - Peter's wife, Empress Ekaterina Alekseevna. Peter needed a person who would continue the work he started, his transformation.

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

Death of Peter I

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

In the summer of 1724, his illness intensified, in September he felt better, but after a while the attacks intensified. In October, Peter went to inspect the Ladoga Canal, contrary to the advice of his life physician Blumentrost. From Olonets, Peter traveled to Staraya Russa and in November went by boat to St. Petersburg.

At Lakhta, he had to, standing waist-deep in water, rescue a boat with soldiers that had run aground. The attacks of the disease intensified, but Peter, not paying attention to them, continued to deal with state affairs. On January 17 (28), 1725, he had such a bad time that he ordered to put 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 were amnestied (excluding murderers and those convicted of repeated robbery). On the same day, at the end of the second hour, Peter demanded paper, began to write, but the pen fell out of his hands, only two words could be made out of what was written: “Give everything back ...”.

The tsar then ordered his daughter Anna Petrovna to be called so that she would write under his dictation, but when she arrived, Peter had already fallen into oblivion. The story about the words of Peter "Give everything..." and the order to call Anna is known only from the notes of the Holstein Privy Councilor G. F. Bassevich. According to N. I. Pavlenko and V. P. Kozlov, it is a tendentious fiction with the aim of hinting at the rights of Anna Petrovna, the wife of the Holstein Duke Karl Friedrich, to the Russian throne.

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

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

At the beginning of the sixth hour in the morning on January 28 (February 8), 1725, Peter the Great died in terrible agony in his Winter Palace near the Winter Canal, according to the official version, from pneumonia. He was buried in the Cathedral of the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg. An autopsy showed the following: "a sharp narrowing in the region of the back of the urethra, hardening of the neck of the bladder and Antonov fire." Death followed from inflammation of the bladder, which turned into gangrene due to urinary retention caused by a 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 the Great is a rather remarkable personality, both from the side of the person and from the side of the ruler. His numerous changes in the country, decrees and an attempt to organize life in a new way were not perceived positively by everyone. However, it cannot be denied that during his reign a new impetus was given to the development of the Russian Empire of that time.

The great Peter the Great introduced innovations that made it possible to reckon with the Russian Empire at the world level. These were not only external achievements, but also internal reforms.

An extraordinary personality in the history of Russia - Tsar Peter the Great

There were a lot of outstanding sovereigns and rulers in the Russian state. Each of them contributed to its development. One of these was Tsar Peter I. His reign was marked by various innovations in various fields, as well as reforms that brought Russia to a new level.

What can be said about the time when Tsar Peter the Great ruled? Briefly, it can be described as a series of changes in the way of life of the Russian people, as well as a new direction in the development of the state itself. Peter after his trip to Europe caught fire with the idea of ​​a full-fledged navy for his country.

In his royal years, Peter the Great changed a lot in the country. He is the first ruler who gave direction to change the culture of Russia towards Europe. So many of his followers continued his undertakings, and this led to the fact that they were not forgotten.

Peter's childhood

If we now talk about whether the childhood years influenced the future fate of the tsar, his behavior in politics, then we can answer that of course. Little Peter was always developed beyond his years, and his remoteness from the royal court allowed him to look at the world in a completely different way. No one hampered him in development, and also did not forbid him to feed his craving for learning everything new and interesting.

The future Tsar Peter the Great was born on June 9, 1672. His mother was Naryshkina Natalya Kirillovna, who was the second wife of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. Until the age of four, he lived at court, loved and spoiled by his mother, who did not have a soul in him. In 1676, his father, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, died. Fedor Alekseevich, who was Peter's older half-brother, ascended the throne.

From that moment on, a new life began both in the state and in the royal family. By order of the new king (part-time half-brother), Peter began to learn to read and write. Science was given to him quite easily, he was a rather inquisitive child who was interested in a lot of things. The teacher of the future ruler was the clerk Nikita Zotov, who did not scold the restless student too much. Thanks to him, Peter read many wonderful books that Zotov brought him from the armory.

The result of all this was a further genuine interest in history, he even in the future had a dream of a book that would tell about the history of Russia. Peter was also fascinated by the art of war, was interested in geography. At an older age, he compiled a rather easy and simple alphabet to learn. However, if we talk about the systematic acquisition of knowledge, then the king did not have this.

Ascension to the throne

Peter the Great was enthroned when he was ten years old. This happened after the death of his half-brother Fyodor Alekseevich, in 1682. However, it should be noted that there were two contenders for the throne. This is Peter's older half-brother - John, who was rather painful from birth. Perhaps that is why the clergy decided that the younger, but stronger applicant should be the ruler. Due to the fact that Peter was still a minor, the king's mother, Natalya Kirillovna, ruled on his behalf.

However, this was not at all liked by the no less noble relatives of the second contender for the throne - Miloslavsky. All this discontent, and even the suspicion that Tsar John was killed by the Naryshkins, led to an uprising that happened on May 15. This event later became known as the "streltsy revolt". On this day, some boyars, who were Peter's mentors, were killed. What happened made an indelible impression on the young king.

After the Streltsy rebellion, two were married to the kingdom - John and Peter 1, the first had a dominant position. Their older sister Sophia, who was the real ruler, was appointed regent. Peter and his mother again left for Preobrazhenskoye. By the way, many of his relatives and friends were also either exiled or killed.

Life of Peter in Preobrazhensky

Peter's life after the May events of 1682 remained the same solitary. Only occasionally did he come to Moscow when there was a need for his presence at official receptions. The rest of the time he continued to live in the village of Preobrazhensky.

At this time, he became interested in the study of military affairs, which led to the formation of, for the time being, children's, amusing regiments. They recruited guys around his age who wanted to learn the art of war, since all these initial children's games grew into just that. Over time, a small military town is formed in Preobrazhensky, and children's amusing regiments grow into adults and become quite an impressive force to be reckoned with.

It was at this time that the future Tsar Peter the Great had the idea of ​​his own fleet. Once he discovered a broken boat in an old barn, and he got the idea of ​​fixing it. After a while, Peter found the person who fixed it. So, the boat was launched. However, the Yauza River was small for such a vessel, it was dragged to a pond near Izmailovo, which also seemed small for the future ruler.

In the end, Peter's new hobby continued on Lake Pleshchevo, near Pereyaslavl. It was here that the formation of the future fleet of the Russian Empire began. Peter himself not only commanded, but also studied various crafts (blacksmith, joiner, carpenter, studied printing).

Peter at one time did not receive a systematic education, but when the need arose to study arithmetic and geometry, he did it. This knowledge was needed in order to learn how to use the astrolabe.

During these years, when Peter received his knowledge in various fields, he had many associates. These are, for example, Prince Romodanovsky, Fedor Apraksin, Alexei Menshikov. Each of these people played a role in the character of the future reign of Peter the Great.

Peter's family life

Peter's personal life was quite complicated. He was seventeen years old when he got married. This happened at the insistence of the mother. Evdokia Lopukhina became the wife of Peter.

Between the spouses there was never mutual understanding. A year after his marriage, he became interested in Anna Mons, which led to a final quarrel. The first family history of Peter the Great ended with Evdokia Lopukhin being exiled to a monastery. This happened in 1698.

From his first marriage, the tsar had a son - Alexei (born in 1690). It has a rather tragic story. It is not known exactly for what reason, but Peter did not love his own son. Perhaps this happened because he did not at all resemble his father, and also did not at all welcome some of his reformist introductions. Be that as it may, but in 1718 Tsarevich Alexei dies. This episode itself is rather mysterious, as many spoke of torture, as a result of which the son of Peter died. By the way, hostility to Alexei extended to his son (grandson of Peter).

In 1703, Marta Skavronskaya entered the life of the tsar, who later became Catherine I. For a long time she was Peter's mistress, and in 1712 they got married. In 1724, Catherine was crowned empress. Peter the Great, whose biography of family life is truly fascinating, was very attached to his second wife. During their life together, Catherine bore him several children, but only two daughters survived - Elizabeth and Anna.

Peter treated his second wife very well, one might even say he loved her. However, this did not prevent him from sometimes having an affair on the side. Catherine herself did the same. In 1725, she was convicted of having an affair with Willem Mons, who was a chamberlain. It was a scandalous story, as a result of which the lover was executed.

The beginning of the real reign of Peter

For a long time, Peter was only second in line to the throne. Of course, these years were not in vain, he studied a lot, became a full-fledged personality. However, in 1689 a new streltsy uprising took place, which was prepared by his sister Sophia, who was ruling at that time. She did not take into account that Peter is far from being the younger brother he was before. Two personal royal regiments - Preobrazhensky and Streletsky, as well as all the patriarchs of Rus', rose to his defense. The rebellion was suppressed, and Sophia spent the rest of her days in the Novodevichy Convent.

After these events, Peter became more interested in the affairs of the state, but nevertheless shifted most of them onto the shoulders of his relatives. The real reign of Peter the Great began in 1695. In 1696, his brother John dies, and he remains the sole ruler of the country. From that time on, innovations began in the Russian Empire.

Wars of the king

There were several wars in which Peter the Great took part. The biography of the king shows how purposeful he was. This is proved by his first campaign against Azov in 1695. It ended in failure, but this did not stop the young king. After analyzing all the mistakes, Peter carried out a second assault in July 1696, which ended successfully.

After the Azov campaigns, the tsar decided that the country needed its own specialists, both in military affairs and in shipbuilding. He sent several nobles to study, and then he decided to travel around Europe himself. This lasted for a year and a half.

In 1700, Peter begins the Great Northern War, which lasted twenty-one years. The result of this war was the signed Treaty of Nystadt, which opened him access to the Baltic Sea. By the way, it was this event that led to the fact that Tsar Peter I received the title of emperor. The resulting lands formed the Russian Empire.

estate reform

Despite the conduct of the war, the emperor did not forget to pursue the domestic policy of the country. Numerous decrees of Peter the Great affected various spheres of life in Russia and not only.

One of the important reforms was a clear division and consolidation of rights and obligations between nobles, peasants and city dwellers.

Nobles. In this estate, innovations concerned primarily the compulsory literacy education for males. Those who failed to pass the exam were not allowed to receive an officer's rank, and they were also not allowed to marry. A table of ranks was introduced, which allowed even those who by birth did not have the right to receive the nobility.

In 1714, a decree was issued that allowed only one offspring from a noble family to inherit all property.

Peasants. For this class, poll taxes were introduced, instead of household taxes. Also, those serfs who went to serve as soldiers were freed from serfdom.

City. For urban residents, the transformation consisted in the fact that they were divided into “regular” (subdivided into guilds) and “irregular” (other people). Also in 1722, workshops for crafts appeared.

Military and judicial reforms

Peter the Great carried out reforms for the army as well. It was he who began recruiting into the army every year from young people who had reached the age of fifteen. They were sent to military training. This led to the fact that the army became stronger and more experienced. A powerful fleet was created, a judicial reform was carried out. Appellate and provincial courts appeared, which were subordinate to the governors.

Administrative reform

At the time when Peter the Great ruled, the reforms also affected the administration of the state. For example, the ruling king could appoint his successor during his lifetime, which was previously impossible. It could have been absolutely anyone.

Also in 1711, by order of the king, a new state body appeared - the Governing Senate. Anyone could also enter it, it was the king's privilege to appoint its members.

In 1718, instead of Moscow orders, 12 colleges appeared, each of which covered its own field of activity (for example, military, income and expenses, etc.).

At the same time, by decree of Tsar Peter, eight provinces were created (later there were eleven). The provinces were divided into provinces, the latter into counties.

Other reforms

The time of Peter the Great is also rich in other equally important reforms. For example, they affected the Church, which lost its independence and became dependent on the state. Later, the Holy Synod was established, the members of which were appointed by the sovereign.

Great reforms took place in the culture of the Russian people. The king, after returning from a trip to Europe, ordered to cut off the beards and shave the faces of men (this did not apply only to priests). Peter also introduced the wearing of European clothes for the boyars. In addition, balls, other music, as well as tobacco for men, which the king brought from his trip, appeared for the upper class.

An important point was the change in the calendar calculation, as well as the transfer of the beginning of the new year from the first of September to the first of January. This happened in December 1699.

Culture in the country was in a special position. The sovereign founded many schools that gave knowledge about foreign languages, mathematics and other technical sciences. A lot of foreign literature was translated into Russian.

The results of the reign of Peter

Peter the Great, whose reign was full of many changes, led Russia to a new direction in its development. A fairly strong fleet appeared in the country, as well as a regular army. The economy has stabilized.

The reign of Peter the Great also had a positive impact on the social sphere. Medicine began to develop, the number of pharmacies and hospitals increased. Science and culture have reached a new level.

In addition, the state of the economy and finances in the country has improved. Russia has reached a new international level, and has also signed several important agreements.

End of reign and Peter's successor

The king's death is shrouded in mystery and speculation. It is known that he died on January 28, 1725. However, what led him to this?

Many talk about an illness from which he did not fully recover, but went on business to the Ladoga Canal. The king was returning home by sea when he saw a ship in distress. It was late cold and rainy autumn. Peter helped drowning people, but he got very wet and as a result caught a bad cold. He never recovered from all this.

All this time, while Tsar Peter was ill, prayers were held in many churches for the health of the Tsar. Everyone understood that this was indeed a great ruler who had done a lot for the country and could have done so much more.

There was another rumor that the tsar was poisoned, and it could be A. Menshikov close to Peter. Whatever it was, but after his death, Peter the Great did not leave a will. The throne is inherited by Peter's wife Catherine I. There is also a legend about this. They say that before his death, the king wanted to write his will, but he managed to write only a couple of words and died.

The personality of the king in modern cinema

The biography and history of Peter the Great is so entertaining that a dozen films have been made about him, as well as several television series. In addition, there are paintings about individual members of his family (for example, about the deceased son Alexei).

Each of the films reveals the personality of the king in its own way. For example, the television series “Testament” plays on the dying years of the king. Of course, there is truth mixed with fiction. An important point will be that Peter the Great never wrote a will, which will be described in colors in the film.

Of course, this is one of many pictures. Some were filmed based on works of art (for example, the novel by A. N. Tolstoy “Peter I”). Thus, as we see, the odious personality of Emperor Peter I excites the minds of people today. This great politician and reformer pushed Russia to develop, to learn new things, and also to enter the international arena.

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Supporters and opponents of Peter I the Great "The more I observe the talents of this monarch, the more I am surprised at this" Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz - German philosopher, historian, diplomat, inventor.

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The transformative activity of Peter I concerned all aspects of public life and all classes of Moscow society. Therefore, people of all directions and positions felt the reform of Peter and, touched by it, in one way or another expressed their attitude towards both the transformation and the reformer. This attitude varied. Not everyone understood what Peter I was striving for, not everyone could consciously relate to the transformations. The reforms seemed strange, unnecessary and incomprehensible to the masses. The people could not catch the historical tradition in the activities of Peter, which we see now, and therefore considered the reform not national and attributed it to the personal whim of their king. However, many individuals, not only from the upper strata of society, but also from the masses of the people, knew how to sympathize with Peter in whole or in part. These people were active employees of the sovereign and apologists for his reforms. So, in the era of Peter I, two sides of people formed in his state: opponents and supporters of the reform.

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3. "Unclean?" The conviction grew that Peter I was the Antichrist, because he was persecuting Orthodoxy, "destroying the Christian faith."

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1. "FALSE PETER?" They began to say that Peter I, during a trip abroad, was captured in Sweden and “laid in a pillar” there, and the Nemchins, who own the kingdom, were released to Rus' instead of him, who owns the kingdom. Variants for this legend were stories that Peter was in Sweden not laid in a stake, but planted in a barrel and pushed into the sea. There was a story and such that a faithful archer died in a barrel for Peter, and Peter is alive, will soon return to Rus' and drive away the German impostor. GOSSIP

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2. “REPLACED” There was a legend among the people that Peter I was born from a “lawless German woman”, he was “replaced”. And how Tsaritsa Natalya Kirillovna began to depart from this world and at that time she said: "You, de, are not my son, replaced." On what such an explanation of the origin of Peter was based, the narrators of the legend themselves naively expressed: "He orders to wear a German dress - it is notable that he was born from a German woman."

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Having received wide circulation in the dark mass of the people, all these legends were confused, varied endlessly and combined into one definition of Peter: "He is not a sovereign - a Latvian; he has no fasting; he is a flatterer, Antichrist, born of an unclean maiden."

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Vasily Tatishchev (1658-1750) A prominent diplomat, military man, head of the Mining District in the Urals, who founded Yekaterinburg. His main works: "Conversation about the benefits of sciences and schools" and the five-volume "Russian History". In the spirit of the theory of natural law, following the French rationalists, he believed that "the main science is, so that a person can know himself." Tracing world and Russian history, Tatishchev considered the growth of knowledge, enlightenment, the flourishing of sciences and crafts, the improvement of political power, and the rational organization of society as positive factors in its development. He criticized the scholastic teaching of philosophy at the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy, divorced from reality.

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Feofan Prokopovich (1681-1736) Feofan stood with one foot in the last century, and the other stretched into another century. Progressiveness, unconditional support for any undertakings of the autocratic ruler, unscrupulousness and cruelty towards dissidents allowed him, a graduate of the Kiev-Mohyla Academy, to become the main ideologist of the established Russian Empire, and after the abolition of the patriarchate, to take the post of chief prosecutor of the Synod, retaining it until his death. It was he who was the main author of the "Spiritual Regulations" and the leader of the church reform, which changed traditional Orthodoxy in the likeness of the Protestant national congresses and carried out a kind of "Russian reformation".

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Stefan Yavorsky (1658-1722) Prokopovich's main opponent, also trained in the West and holding the post of locum tenens of the patriarchal throne, became the spiritual leader of the opposition to Peter's reforms, especially in the church sphere. The fundamental anti-Protestant "Stone of Faith", banned in Russia and published by the Jesuits in Europe in Latin, substantiates the inviolability of the Christian faith, the superiority of divine laws over human ones, a protest against the secularization of society and the subordination of the church to the machine of the state, which was steadily carried out in modern Russia.

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Ivan Tikhonovich (1652-1726) Pososhkov was a typical nugget, a native of the people, one of those whom Peter the Great brought closer for natural talents and active service to the Fatherland. Pososhkov drew up a number of projects, notes, various plans for the rise of Russia in the economic, trade, and social fields. Of his works, the most important was completed by the end of his life, "The Book of Poverty and Wealth." For the anti-noble remarks made in it, he was imprisoned in the casemate of the Peter and Paul Fortress, where he died. Pososhkov considered the basis of the prosperity of the country not the tsarist treasury, but the well-being of citizens, their property, functioning capital, and lively trade. For the prosperity of Russia, in his opinion, it is necessary to free the peasants, give them, like all other classes, the opportunity to own property, work actively, get an education and, under royal patronage, contribute to the common good.

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Tsarevich Alexei (1690-1728) A big blow for Peter was that his son Alexei entered the opposition circles. Peter repeatedly tried to attract Alexei to his affairs and concerns, but the prince showed complete indifference to this. Finally, in 1715 Peter put his son before a choice: either he would come to his senses and, together with his father, take up the matter, or renounce the succession to the throne. Alexei agreed to take the veil as a monk. Not wanting to lead a monastic life, the prince fled to Austria, where he was secretly granted asylum. After a short time, he was found and in 1718 brought to Moscow. Having received his father's forgiveness, he signed a prepared abdication manifesto. After that, the prince revealed all his accomplices. Fear for his life muddied Alexei's mind. During interrogations, he lied, slandered others in order to belittle his guilt. But the search established his indisputable guilt. The court unanimously declared the prince worthy of death. In 1718, Alexei was sentenced to death for high treason.

Introduction …………………………………………………………………………… 3 Chapter 1. Peter the Great - Emperor of the Russian Empire. …………………..5 Supporters of the reforms of Peter I. …………………………………...........................7 1.2.F. Y. Lefort…………………………………………………………………….7 1.3.I. T. Pososhkov………………………………………………………………….9 1.4. F. A. Golovin…………………………………………………………………..13 1.5.F.S. Saltykov………………………………………………………………..14 1.6. Feofan Prokopovich………………………………………………… …………17 Chapter 2.Opponents of the reforms of Peter 1…………………………………………..24 2.1.Conspiracy of Tsarevich Alexei.…………………………………… ………………………………………..25 2.2.H. R. Rodyshevsky (Markell)………………………………………………...26 Conclusion. ……………………………………………………………………..29 References…………………………………………………… …………...31

Introduction

All the activities of Peter I were aimed at creating a strong independent state, and the implementation of this goal could be realized, in his opinion, only through an absolute monarchy. For the formation of absolutism in Russia, a combination of historical, economic, social, domestic and foreign political reasons was necessary, therefore, all the reforms carried out by Peter I can be considered political, because. the result of their implementation was to become a powerful Russian state. There is an opinion that Peter's reforms were distinguished by a certain spontaneity, thoughtlessness and a certain inconsistency. It can be objected that it is impossible in a living society to calculate everything with absolute accuracy for decades to come. Of course, in the process of implementing the transformations, life itself made its own adjustments, and, therefore, plans changed, new ideas arose. The order of the reforms and their features were dictated by the course of the protracted Northern War, as well as the political and financial capabilities of the state in a certain period of time. “People of all generations in assessing the personality and activities of Peter agreed on one thing: he was considered a force. Peter was the most prominent and influential figure of his time, the leader of all the people. No one considered him an insignificant person who unconsciously used power or blindly walked along a random road. (S. F. Platonov "Personality and Activity"). The degree of study: this topic is quite well developed today, there is a huge number of works that are devoted to the reforms of Peter I and the attitude of his contemporaries towards them. Subject of study: life and opinions of people who are both supporters and opponents of the reforms of Peter I. Purpose: to collect and process research material, as well as evidence from contemporaries of Peter the Great about his state activities. Tasks: 1. Analyze the literature on the reforms of Peter I. 2. On the basis of the collected material, analyze and characterize the attitude of Peter the Great's contemporaries. The structure of the course work is based on the objectives and logic of the study and contains an introduction, two chapters, a conclusion and a list of references. Chapter 1. Peter the Great - Emperor of the Russian Empire Peter I was the first Russian emperor. He took this title in 1721 after the victory in the Great Northern War (1700-1721), which resulted in the expansion of Russia's territory in the Baltic region. According to the Peace of Nishtad (August 30, 1721), Russia received access to the Baltic Sea, annexed the territory of Ingria, part of Karelia, Estonia and Livonia. Thus, the country became a great European power, and by the decision of the Senate, Peter was proclaimed Emperor of the Russian Empire, while he was given the titles "Great" - "Peter the Great", "Father of the Fatherland"). So, during his reign, Peter I carried out the following three stages of reforms: In 1699-1710, changes took place in the system of state institutions, new ones were created, at the same time the local self-government system was reformed and a recruiting system was introduced. In 1710-1719, by order of the emperor, the old institutions were liquidated and the Senate was created. The first regional reform is being carried out. In the new military policy, the priority is the construction of a powerful fleet. A new legislative system has been approved, and state institutions are being transferred from Moscow to St. Petersburg. In 1719-1725, new institutions began to work and the old ones were finally liquidated. The second regional reform was carried out. The army was being expanded and reorganized. Church and financial reforms are being carried out. A new system of taxation and civil service has been introduced. All the reforms of Peter I were enshrined in the form of charters, regulations, decrees, and have the same legal force. After Peter I was given the official title of "Father of the Fatherland", "Emperor of the All-Russian", "Peter the Great", this already corresponded to the legal formalization of an absolute monarchy. The monarch was not limited in powers and rights by any administrative bodies of power and control, therefore the power of the emperor was wide and strong to such an extent that often Peter I allowed himself to violate the customs that concerned the person of the monarch. In the military charter of 1716. and in the Charter of the Sea of ​​1720 it was proclaimed: “His Majesty is an autocratic monarch who should not give an answer to anyone in his affairs, but has his own states and lands, like a Christian sovereign, to govern according to his will and goodwill.” “Monarchy is autocratic power, which God himself commands for conscience to obey.” In 1722, Peter I issued a “Decree on the Succession to the Throne”, according to which the monarch determined his successor “recognizing convenient”, but also had the right to deprive him of the throne, seeing “obscenity in the heir”, “seeing a worthy one”. According to the adopted legislation, he determined actions against the king and States were defined as the most serious crimes. Therefore, anyone “who will contemplate what evil”, and those who “helped or gave advice or, knowing, did not inform”, were punished with the death penalty, tearing out their nostrils or deportation to the galleys - depending on the severity of the crime.

Conclusion

The era of Peter I is, first of all, the era of transformations. Whatever the attitude towards the personality of the reforming tsar, it is impossible not to admit that Russia has made a giant leap in all spheres of life and has strengthened its international position. The economic and cultural life of the country, the increased military power - all this allowed Russia to become a great power. The peculiarity of Peter's reforms is that they were comprehensive. Historian N.M. Karamzin at the beginning of the 19th century believed that the path traversed by Russia under Peter I would have taken six centuries without him. There were innovations in everything: in the field of the structure of the state apparatus, the construction of the armed forces, industrial development, foreign policy, painting, architecture, the dissemination of science, urban planning. And Peter himself was an outstanding personality. The versatility of his activities is striking: he was a commander and naval commander, diplomat and legislator. He was excellent with both the pen and the axe. According to him, the duties of the king are reduced to "two necessary matters of government": to the routine, internal improvement, defense and external security of the state. He understood the common good as the private interest of everyone. But it is impossible to talk about Peter's reforms only as the result of the activity of one person, even if he was as extraordinary as Peter was. It was impossible to pull such a load of transformations alone. Peter I had many assistants, "friends", as he himself called them. But even here his originality was manifested: he had the gift of guessing talent and foreseeing the possibilities of a person. Among the associates of Peter are people of different nationalities and different social status: the Dutch, Swedes, Greeks, representatives of aristocratic families and former serfs. The basis for career advancement and career success was not origin and “breed”, but abilities, knowledge, skills, desire for development and education. References: 1. Pososhkov I.T. Father's testament to son. SPb., 1893. 2. Pososhkov I.T. The mirror is obvious. Kazan, 1895. 3. Pososhkov I.T. Collection of letters to Metropolitan Stefan Yavorsky. SPb., 1900. 4. Pososhkov I.T. A book about poverty and wealth. M., 1951. 5. Prokopovich F. Works. Edited by I.P. Eremin. (M.-L.: Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1961) 6. Prokopovich, Feofan Selected Works / Feofan Prokopovich; comp., author. intro. Art. icomment. I. V. Kurukin; Institute of Social Thought. - Moscow: ROSSPEN, 2010 - 623 p. 7.F. Prokopovich A detailed chronicle from the beginning of Russia to the Poltava Battle: In 4 parts / Ed. I. N. Boltina and N. A. Lvova. - 1st ed. - St. Petersburg: (1798-1799 ed.) 8. Lomonosov M. V. Complete works: In 10 volumes - M., L.: Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1950-1959. T. 11. M., L.: Nauka, 1983. 9. Lomonosov M. V. Selected prose. M.: Soviet Russia, 1986. 10. Lomonosov M.V. Selected works. L .: Soviet writer, 1986.

Bibliography

References: 1. Pososhkov I.T. Father's testament to son. SPb., 1893. 2. Pososhkov I.T. The mirror is obvious. Kazan, 1895. 3. Pososhkov I.T. Collection of letters to Metropolitan Stefan Yavorsky. SPb., 1900. 4. Pososhkov I.T. A book about poverty and wealth. M., 1951. 5. Prokopovich F. Works. Edited by I.P. Eremin. (M.-L.: Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1961) 6. Prokopovich, Feofan Selected Works / Feofan Prokopovich; comp., auth. intro. Art. and comment. I. V. Kurukin; Institute of Social Thought. - Moscow: ROSSPEN, 2010 - 623 p. 7.F. Prokopovich A detailed chronicle from the beginning of Russia to the Poltava Battle: In 4 parts / Ed. I. N. Boltin and N. A. Lvov. - 1st ed. - St. Petersburg: (1798-1799 ed.) 8. Lomonosov M. V. Complete works: In 10 volumes - M., L.: Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1950-1959. T. 11. M., L.: Nauka, 1983. 9. Lomonosov M. V. Selected prose. M.: Soviet Russia, 1986. 10. Lomonosov M.V. Selected works. L .: Soviet writer, 1986.