Peter the First. Who was Peter I or Peter the Great really for Russia? Why was Peter 1 called a substitute?
The king(!) cooked his own food. When buying a boat, he bargained with the owner for a long time until they agreed on 40 guilders and one (!) mug of beer, which they drank in a local tavern. Would a genuine Russian tsar, who has been hammered into the idea of his exclusive mission from the cradle, would stoop to drinking on two of one glass of beer?
The works of the vice-president of the Russian Philosophical Society N.A. Chaldymov “Anthropological Catastrophe” and Doctor of Philosophy V.A. Shemshuk “On the Satanic Coup in Russia” also provide evidence in favor of a possible substitution of the sovereign.
Immediately after the tsar’s return, all the “daily” records of Peter’s childhood and youth disappeared from the court archives, in which every step of the tsar was noted: receiving ambassadors, visiting churches, attending celebrations. It is unlikely that such a loss of the most important state documents was accidental. After all, there were letters and decrees of the young sovereign - and many of them were written in his own hand, that is, they could serve as handwriting samples.
After his arrival, the new tsar suddenly “forgot” the Russian language - he spoke it poorly, and depicted Russian words in Latin letters. For several years he did not write letters on his own, but only dictated them.
A desire suddenly arose in him to change the history - not only of the palace, but of the entire state. He ordered that old handwritten books be removed from all monasteries and brought to Moscow, allegedly to make copies. Failure to comply with the order threatened with the death penalty (!). Brought to Moscow the books were burned, no copies were made of them. After which Peir invited German (!) scientists to write the history of the Russian (!) state. The tradition continued under Anna Ioannovna and Catherine the Great. The history of Russia has been rewritten! And now the faithful Millerites are writhing at the mouth, foaming at the mouth, bringing us the heresy that the Scythians came from Iran, about some kind of Tatars - and also the Mongol yoke and other callings of the Varangians, because, they say, the Russians have no “order”, they are on their own cannot govern the state, and “therefore they need a firm German hand” (“Mein Kampf”! - that’s where Hitler got his crazy ideas from!)
The tsar, who returned from Europe, avoided any meetings with close relatives in every possible way - he did not even attend their weddings or funerals, and during such events he tried to leave Moscow. Was this not a manifestation of constant exposure?
A curious picture is provided by the preserved records of the Preobrazhensky Order, the predecessor of the Secret Chancellery, and their Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts. More than 90% of state criminals of that time were not conspirators, traitors or rebels, but precisely those who talked about replacing the king! Or he didn’t inform, listening to such speeches.
They were the ones who posed the greatest danger and were persecuted and executed with particular cruelty.
An interesting detail: most of the punishments for speeches about an impostor occurred precisely in the first years after the Great Embassy - that is, when the fear of a possible liar was especially strong.
According to the article by V. Svetlanin, “Secrets
20th century", No. 28 2015.
Peter I, who received the nickname Peter the Great for his services to Russia, is a figure for Russian history not just iconic, but key. Peter 1 created the Russian Empire, therefore he turned out to be the last Tsar of All Rus' and, accordingly, the first All-Russian Emperor. The son of the Tsar, the godson of the Tsar, the brother of the Tsar - Peter himself was proclaimed the head of the country, and at that time the boy was barely 10 years old. Initially, he had a formal co-ruler Ivan V, but from the age of 17 he already ruled independently, and in 1721 Peter I became emperor.
Tsar Peter the Great | Haiku Deck
For Russia, the years of the reign of Peter I were a time of large-scale reforms. He significantly expanded the territory of the state, built the beautiful city of St. Petersburg, incredibly boosted the economy by founding a whole network of metallurgical and glass factories, and also reducing imports of foreign goods to a minimum. In addition, Peter the Great was the first of the Russian rulers to adopt their best ideas. But since all the reforms of Peter the Great were achieved through violence against the population and the eradication of all dissent, the personality of Peter the Great still evokes diametrically opposed assessments among historians.
Childhood and youth of Peter I
The biography of Peter I initially implied his future reign, since he was born into the family of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov and his wife Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina. It is noteworthy that Peter the Great turned out to be the 14th child of his father, but the first-born for his mother. It is also worth noting that the name Peter was completely unconventional for both dynasties of his ancestors, so historians still cannot figure out where he got this name from.
Childhood of Peter the Great | Academic Dictionaries and Encyclopedias The boy was only four years old when the Tsar Father died. His elder brother and godfather Fyodor III Alekseevich ascended the throne, took guardianship of his brother and ordered him to give him the maximum a good education. However, Peter the Great had big problems with this. He was always very inquisitive, but just at that moment Orthodox Church started a war against foreign influence, and all Latin teachers were removed from the court. Therefore, the prince was taught by Russian clerks, who themselves did not have deep knowledge, and Russian-language books of the proper level did not yet exist. As a result, Peter the Great had a meager vocabulary and wrote with errors until the end of his life.
Childhood of Peter the Great | View Map Tsar Feodor III reigned for only six years and died due to poor health at a young age. According to tradition, the throne was supposed to be taken by another son of Tsar Alexei, Ivan, but he was very sickly, so the Naryshkin family actually organized a palace coup and declared Peter I the heir. It was beneficial for them, since the boy was a descendant of their family, but the Naryshkins did not take into account that the Miloslavsky family will rebel due to infringement of the interests of Tsarevich Ivan. The famous Streletsky revolt of 1682 took place, the result of which was the recognition of two tsars at the same time - Ivan and Peter. The Kremlin Armory still preserves a double throne for the brother tsars.
Childhood and youth of Peter the Great | Russian Museum Young Peter I's favorite game was practicing with his troops. Moreover, the prince’s soldiers were not toys at all. His peers dressed in uniform and marched through the streets of the city, and Peter the Great himself “served” as a drummer in his regiment. Later, he even got his own artillery, also real. The amusing army of Peter I was called the Preobrazhensky regiment, to which the Semenovsky regiment was later added, and, in addition to them, the tsar organized an amusing fleet.
Tsar Peter I
When the young tsar was still a minor, behind him stood his older sister, Princess Sophia, and later his mother Natalya Kirillovna and her relatives the Naryshkins. In 1689, brother-co-ruler Ivan V finally gave Peter all power, although he nominally remained co-tsar until he died suddenly at the age of 30. After the death of his mother, Tsar Peter the Great freed himself from the burdensome guardianship of the Naryshkin princes, and it was from then on that we can talk about Peter the Great as an independent ruler.
Tsar Peter the Great | Cultural studies He continued military operations in Crimea against the Ottoman Empire, carried out a series of Azov campaigns, which resulted in the capture of the Azov fortress. To strengthen the southern borders, the tsar built the port of Taganrog, but Russia still did not have a full-fledged fleet, so it did not achieve final victory. Large-scale construction of ships and training of young nobles abroad in shipbuilding begins. And the tsar himself studied the art of building a fleet, even working as a carpenter on the construction of the ship “Peter and Paul”.
Emperor Peter the Great | Bookaholic While Peter the Great was preparing to reform the country and personally studied the technical and economic progress of leading European states, a conspiracy was hatched against him, led by the tsar’s first wife. Having suppressed the Streltsy revolt, Peter the Great decided to redirect military operations. He concludes a peace agreement with the Ottoman Empire and begins a war with Sweden. His troops captured the fortresses of Noteburg and Nyenschanz at the mouth of the Neva, where the Tsar decided to found the city of St. Petersburg, and placed the base of the Russian fleet on the nearby island of Kronstadt.
Wars of Peter the Great
The above conquests made it possible to open access to the Baltic Sea, which later received the symbolic name “Window to Europe.” Later, the territories of the Eastern Baltic were annexed to Russia, and in 1709, during the legendary Battle of Poltava, the Swedes were completely defeated. Moreover, it is important to note: Peter the Great, unlike many kings, did not sit in fortresses, but personally led his troops on the battlefield. In the Battle of Poltava, Peter I was even shot through his hat, meaning he really risked his own life.
Peter the Great at the Battle of Poltava | X-digest After the defeat of the Swedes near Poltava, King Charles XII took refuge under the protection of the Turks in the city of Bendery, which was then part of the Ottoman Empire, and today is located in Moldova. With the help of the Crimean Tatars and Zaporozhye Cossacks, he began to escalate the situation on the southern border of Russia. By seeking the expulsion of Charles, Peter the Great, on the contrary, forced the Ottoman Sultan to once again unleash Russian-Turkish war. Rus' found itself in a situation where it was necessary to wage a war on three fronts. On the border with Moldova, the tsar was surrounded and agreed to sign peace with the Turks, giving them back the Azov fortress and access to the Sea of Azov.
Fragment of Ivan Aivazovsky's painting "Peter I at Krasnaya Gorka" | Russian Museum In addition to the Russian-Turkish and northern wars, Peter the Great escalated the situation in the east. Thanks to his expeditions, the cities of Omsk, Ust-Kamenogorsk and Semipalatinsk were founded, and later Kamchatka joined Russia. The king wanted to carry out campaigns in North America and India, but failed to realize these ideas. But he carried out the so-called Caspian campaign against Persia, during which he conquered Baku, Rasht, Astrabad, Derbent, as well as other Iranian and Caucasian fortresses. But after the death of Peter the Great, most of these territories were lost, since the new government considered the region not promising, and maintaining a garrison in those conditions was too expensive.
Reforms of Peter I
Due to the fact that the territory of Russia expanded significantly, Peter managed to reorganize the country from a kingdom into an empire, and starting in 1721, Peter I became emperor. Of the numerous reforms of Peter I, transformations in the army clearly stood out, which allowed him to achieve great military victories. But no less important were such innovations as the transfer of the church under the authority of the emperor, as well as the development of industry and trade. Emperor Peter the Great was well aware of the need for education and the fight against an outdated way of life. On the one hand, his tax on wearing a beard was perceived as tyranny, but at the same time, there appeared a direct dependence of the promotion of nobles on the level of their education.
Peter the Great cuts off the beards of the boyars | VistaNews Under Peter, the first Russian newspaper was founded and many translations of foreign books appeared. Artillery, engineering, medical, naval and mining schools were opened, as well as the country's first gymnasium. Moreover, now not only the children of nobles, but also the offspring of soldiers could attend secondary schools. He really wanted to create a mandatory primary school, but did not have time to implement this plan. It is important to note that the reforms of Peter the Great affected not only economics and politics. He financed the education of talented artists, introduced the new Julian calendar, and tried to change the position of women by prohibiting forced marriage. He also raised the dignity of his subjects, obliging them not to kneel even before the king and to use full names, and not call yourself “Senka” or “Ivashka” as before.
Monument "Tsar Carpenter" in St. Petersburg | Russian Museum In general, the reforms of Peter the Great changed the value system of the nobles, which can be considered a huge plus, but at the same time the gap between the nobility and the people increased many times and was no longer limited only to finances and titles. The main disadvantage of the royal reforms is the violent method of their implementation. In fact, this was a struggle between despotism and uneducated people, and Peter hoped to use the whip to instill consciousness in the people. Indicative in this regard is the construction of St. Petersburg, which was carried out in difficult conditions. Many artisans ran away from hard labor, and the tsar ordered their entire family to be imprisoned until the fugitives returned to confess.
TVNZ Since not everyone liked the methods of governing the state under Peter the Great, the tsar founded the political investigation and judicial body Preobrazhensky Prikaz, which later grew into the notorious Secret Chancellery. The most unpopular decrees in this context were the ban on keeping records in a room closed from outsiders, as well as the ban on non-reporting. Violation of both of these decrees was punishable by death. In this way, Peter the Great fought against conspiracies and palace coups.
Personal life of Peter I
In his youth, Tsar Peter I loved to visit the German Settlement, where he not only became interested in foreign life, for example, learned to dance, smoke and communicate in a Western manner, but also fell in love with a German girl, Anna Mons. His mother was very worried similar relationships, therefore, when Peter reached his 17th birthday, she insisted on his wedding with Evdokia Lopukhina. However, they did not have a normal family life: soon after the wedding, Peter the Great left his wife and visited her only to prevent rumors of a certain kind.
Evdokia Lopukhina, first wife of Peter the Great | Sunday afternoon Tsar Peter I and his wife had three sons: Alexei, Alexander and Pavel, but the latter two died in infancy. The eldest son of Peter the Great was supposed to become his heir, but since Evdokia in 1698 unsuccessfully tried to overthrow her husband from the throne in order to transfer the crown to her son and was imprisoned in a monastery, Alexei was forced to flee abroad. He never approved of his father's reforms, considered him a tyrant and planned to overthrow his parent. However, in 1717 the young man was arrested and detained in the Peter and Paul Fortress, and the following summer he was sentenced to death. The matter did not come to execution, since Alexei soon died in prison under unclear circumstances.
A few years after the divorce from his first wife, Peter the Great took 19-year-old Marta Skavronskaya as his mistress, whom Russian troops captured as booty of war. She gave birth to eleven children from the king, half of them even before the legal wedding. The wedding took place in February 1712 after the woman converted to Orthodoxy, thanks to which she became Ekaterina Alekseevna, later known as Empress Catherine I. Among the children of Peter and Catherine are the future Empress Elizabeth I and Anna, the mother, the rest died in childhood. It is interesting that the second wife of Peter the Great was the only person in his life who knew how to calm his violent character even in moments of rage and fits of anger.
Maria Cantemir, favorite of Peter the Great | Wikipedia Despite the fact that his wife accompanied the emperor on all campaigns, he was able to become infatuated with young Maria Cantemir, the daughter of the former Moldavian ruler, Prince Dmitry Konstantinovich. Maria remained Peter the Great's favorite until the end of his life. Separately, it is worth mentioning the height of Peter I. Even for our contemporaries, a more than two-meter man seems very tall. But during the time of Peter I, his 203 centimeters seemed completely incredible. Judging by the chronicles of eyewitnesses, when the Tsar and Emperor Peter the Great walked through the crowd, his head rose above the sea of people.
Compared to his older brothers, born by a different mother from their common father, Peter the Great seemed quite healthy. But in fact, he was tormented by severe headaches almost all his life, and in last years During the reign of Peter the Great, he suffered from kidney stones. The attacks intensified even more after the emperor, together with ordinary soldiers, pulled out the stranded boat, but he tried not to pay attention to the illness.
Engraving "Death of Peter the Great" | ArtPolitInfo At the end of January 1725, the ruler could no longer endure the pain and fell ill in his Winter Palace. After the emperor had no strength left to scream, he only moaned, and everyone around him realized that Peter the Great was dying. Peter the Great accepted his death in terrible agony. Doctors named pneumonia as the official cause of his death, but later doctors had strong doubts about this verdict. An autopsy was performed, which showed a terrible inflammation of the bladder, which had already developed into gangrene. Peter the Great was buried in the cathedral at the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg, and his wife, Empress Catherine I, became the heir to the throne.
In Moscow they gossiped: “The sovereign is not of Russian breed, and not the son of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich.” The clear proof was that the Tsar favored the Germans, which meant he was one of them himself. They only argued about when and who replaced the monarch.
For “indecent speech” they were flogged, tortured, sent to hard labor and into exile, but they could not eradicate the rumors.
According to one version, the boy was replaced by the Germans in infancy. The Tsarevich’s “mothers” gaped, and that’s when the “German little boy” ended up in their arms instead of Pyotr Alekseevich.
According to another, the child was replaced by Tsarina Natalya Kirillovna herself, fearing that her husband would stop loving her if she gave birth to a girl. Allegedly, the queen put a child from a German settlement in a cradle, and gave the daughter to someone. Peter allegedly learned about the substitution from his mother when she was dying.
Evil tongues even found the “real” father of Peter I, who was supposedly an associate of the reformer Tsar Franz-Lefort. This is precisely what explained the general’s closeness to the tsar, his appointment as admiral, and then as head of the Grand Embassy.
According to another version, the king was replaced during a trip to Europe. This happened in Riga, where the real Peter was either walled up in a wall, or “the German king was put in a barrel and thrown into the sea,” and instead of him an impostor came to Russia.
There was a version that the king was tortured in prison by the Swedish queen Christina, who replaced Peter with her man.
It is alleged that Peter I, according to the memoirs of his contemporaries, changed dramatically after returning from the Great Embassy. Portraits of the king before and after his return from Europe are given as evidence of the substitution. It is alleged that in the portrait of Peter before his trip to Europe he had a long face, curly hair and a large wart under his left eye. In portraits of the king after returning from Europe, he had a round face, straight hair and no wart under his left eye. When Peter I returned from the Great Embassy, he was 26 years old, and in his portraits after his return he looked about 40 years old. It is believed that before the trip the king was of heavy build and above average height, but still not a two-meter giant. The king who returned was thin, had very narrow shoulders, and his height, which was absolutely established, was 2 meters 4 centimeters. Such tall people were very rare at that time.
In addition, there is a version, shared by a number of Russian historians, that Peter I died in 1691 during military exercises due to an accident. Allegedly, those around him were very afraid of losing their position, so they went for a replacement. The head of the conspiracy was Prince Fyodor Romodanovsky. On his order, they found a “replacement”, the Dutch shipbuilder Jaan Musch, who had come to Russia, and who was supposedly very similar to the tsar. Russia is actually Prince Romodanovsky, hiding behind a foreign impostor. After his death, in 1717, the new environment decided to put an end to the only heir of the real Peter - Tsarevich Alexei, who fled to the Holy Roman Empire. He was lured from there to Russia, and soon died in prison. Thus, according to this version, the Romanov dynasty was interrupted.
Peter I Alekseevich is the last Tsar of All Rus' and the first All-Russian Emperor, one of the most outstanding rulers of the Russian Empire. He was a true patriot of his state and did everything possible for its prosperity.
From his youth, Peter I showed great interest in various things, and was the first of the Russian tsars to make a long journey through European countries.
Thanks to this, he was able to accumulate a wealth of experience and carry out many important reforms that determined the direction of development in the 18th century.
In this article we will take a closer look at the characteristics of Peter the Great, and pay attention to his personality traits, as well as his successes in the political arena.
Biography of Peter 1
Peter 1 Alekseevich Romanov was born on May 30, 1672 in. His father, Alexei Mikhailovich, was the Tsar of the Russian Empire, and ruled it for 31 years.
Mother, Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina, was the daughter of a small nobleman. Interestingly, Peter was the 14th son of his father and the first of his mother.
Childhood and youth of Peter I
When the future emperor was 4 years old, his father Alexei Mikhailovich died, and Peter’s older brother, Fyodor 3 Alekseevich, took the throne.
The new tsar began raising little Peter, ordering him to be taught various sciences. Since at that time there was a struggle against foreign influence, his teachers were Russian clerks who did not have deep knowledge.
As a result, the boy was unable to receive a proper education, and until the end of his days he wrote with errors.
However, it is worth noting that Peter 1 managed to compensate for the shortcomings of basic education with rich practical training. Moreover, the biography of Peter I is notable precisely for his fantastic practice, and not for his theory.
History of Peter 1
Six years later, Fedor 3 died, and his son Ivan was to ascend to the Russian throne. However, the legal heir turned out to be a very sick and weak child.
Taking advantage of this, the Naryshkin family, in fact, organized a coup d'etat. Having secured the support of Patriarch Joachim, the Naryshkins made young Peter king the very next day.
26-year-old Peter I. The portrait by Kneller was presented by Peter in 1698 to the English king However, the Miloslavskys, relatives of Tsarevich Ivan, declared the illegality of such a transfer of power and the infringement of their own rights.
As a result, the famous Streletsky revolt took place in 1682, as a result of which two kings were on the throne at the same time - Ivan and Peter.
From that moment on, many significant events occurred in the biography of the young autocrat.
It is worth emphasizing here that with early years the boy was interested in military affairs. On his orders, fortifications were built, and real military equipment was used in staged battles.
Peter 1 put uniforms on his peers and marched with them along the city streets. Interestingly, he himself acted as a drummer, walking in front of his regiment.
After the formation of his own artillery, the king created a small “fleet”. Even then he wanted to dominate the sea and lead his ships into battle.
Tsar Peter 1
As a teenager, Peter 1 was not yet able to fully govern the state, so his half-sister Sofya Alekseevna, and then his mother Natalya Naryshkina, became his regent.
In 1689, Tsar Ivan officially transferred all power to his brother, as a result of which Peter 1 became the only full-fledged head of state.
After the death of his mother, his relatives, the Naryshkins, helped him manage the empire. However, the autocrat soon freed himself from their influence and began to independently rule the empire.
Reign of Peter 1
From that time on, Peter 1 stopped playing war games, and instead began to develop real plans for future military campaigns. He continued to wage war in Crimea against, and also repeatedly organized the Azov campaigns.
As a result of this, he managed to take the Azov fortress, which became one of the first military successes in his biography. Then Peter 1 began building the port of Taganrog, although there was still no fleet as such in the state.
From that time on, the emperor set out to create a strong fleet at all costs in order to have influence on the sea. To do this, he made sure that young nobles could study ship craft in European countries.
It is worth noting that Peter I himself also learned to build ships, working as an ordinary carpenter. Thanks to this, he gained great respect among ordinary people who watched him work for the good of Russia.
Even then, Peter the Great saw many shortcomings in the state system and was preparing for serious reforms that would forever inscribe his name in.
He studied government system major European countries, trying to adopt the best from them.
During this period of biography, a conspiracy was drawn up against Peter 1, as a result of which a Streltsy uprising was supposed to occur. However, the king managed to suppress the rebellion in time and punish all the conspirators.
After a long confrontation with the Ottoman Empire, Peter the Great decided to sign a peace agreement with it. After that, he started a war with.
He managed to capture several fortresses at the mouth of the Neva River, on which the glorious city of Peter the Great would be built in the future.
Wars of Peter the Great
After a series of successful military campaigns, Peter 1 managed to open access to what would later be called the “window to Europe.”
Meanwhile, the military power of the Russian Empire was constantly increasing, and the glory of Peter the Great spread throughout Europe. Soon the Eastern Baltic states were annexed to Russia.
In 1709, the famous battle took place, in which the Swedish and Russian armies fought. As a result, the Swedes were completely defeated, and the remnants of the troops were taken prisoner.
By the way, this battle was superbly described in the famous poem “Poltava”. Here's a snippet:
There was that troubled time
When Russia is young,
Straining strength in struggles,
She was married to the genius of Peter.
It is worth noting that Peter 1 himself took part in battles, showing courage and bravery in battle. By his example, he inspired the Russian army, which was ready to fight for the emperor to the last drop of blood.
Studying Peter's relationship with the soldiers, one cannot help but recall the famous story about a careless soldier. Read more about this.
An interesting fact is that at the height of the Battle of Poltava, an enemy bullet shot through Peter I’s hat, passing just a few centimeters from his head. This once again proved the fact that the autocrat was not afraid to risk his life to defeat the enemy.
However, numerous military campaigns not only took the lives of valiant warriors, but also depleted the country's military resources. It's gotten to the point where Russian empire found herself in a situation where it was necessary to fight on 3 fronts simultaneously.
This forced Peter 1 to reconsider his views on foreign policy and make a number of important decisions.
He signed a peace agreement with the Turks, agreeing to give them back the fortress of Azov. By making such a sacrifice, he was able to save many human lives and military equipment.
After some time, Peter the Great began organizing campaigns to the east. Their result was the annexation of such cities as Semipalatinsk and to Russia.
Interestingly, he even wanted to organize military expeditions to North America and India, but these plans were never destined to come true.
But Peter the Great was able to brilliantly carry out the Caspian campaign against Persia, conquering Derbent, Astrabad and many fortresses.
After his death most of the conquered territories turned out to be lost, since their maintenance was not profitable for the state.
Reforms of Peter 1
Throughout his biography, Peter 1 implemented many reforms aimed at the benefit of the state. Interestingly, he became the first Russian ruler who began to call himself emperor.
The most important reforms concerned military affairs. In addition, it was during the reign of Peter 1 that the church began to submit to the state, which had never happened before.
The reforms of Peter the Great promoted development and trade, as well as a departure from an outdated way of life.
For example, he imposed a tax on wearing a beard, wanting to impose on the boyars European standards appearance. And although this caused a wave of discontent on the part of the Russian nobility, they still obeyed all his decrees.
Every year, medical, maritime, engineering and other schools were opened in the country, in which not only the children of officials, but also ordinary peasants could study. Peter 1 introduced the new Julian calendar, which is still used today.
While in Europe, the king saw many beautiful paintings that captured his imagination. As a result, upon arriving home, he began to provide financial support to artists in order to stimulate the development of Russian culture.
To be fair, it must be said that Peter 1 was often criticized for the violent method of implementing these reforms. Essentially, he forced people to change their thinking and also to carry out the projects he had in mind.
One of the most bright examples This is due to the construction of St. Petersburg, which was carried out in the most difficult conditions. Many people could not withstand such stress and ran away.
Then the families of the fugitives were put in prison and remained there until the culprits returned back to the construction site.
Peter I Soon Peter 1 formed a body of political investigation and court, which was transformed into the Secret Chancellery. Any person was prohibited from writing in closed rooms.
If anyone knew about such a violation and did not report it to the king, he was subject to the death penalty. Using such harsh methods, Peter tried to fight anti-government conspiracies.
Personal life of Peter 1
In his youth, Peter 1 loved to be in the German settlement, enjoying foreign society. It was there that he first saw the German Anna Mons, with whom he immediately fell in love.
His mother was against his relationship with a German woman, so she insisted that he marry Evdokia Lopukhina. An interesting fact is that Peter did not contradict his mother and took Lopukhina as his wife.
Of course, in this forced marriage they family life could not be called happy. They had two boys: Alexey and Alexander, the latter of whom died in early childhood.
Alexei was to become the legal heir to the throne after Peter 1. However, due to the fact that Evdokia tried to overthrow her husband from the throne and transfer power to her son, everything turned out completely differently.
Lopukhina was imprisoned in a monastery, and Alexei had to flee abroad. It is worth noting that Alexei himself never approved of his father’s reforms, and even called him a despot.
Peter I interrogates Tsarevich Alexei. Ge N. N., 1871 In 1717, Alexei was found and arrested, and then sentenced to death for participating in a conspiracy. However, he died in prison, and under very mysterious circumstances.
Having divorced his wife, in 1703 Peter the Great became interested in 19-year-old Katerina (nee Marta Samuilovna Skavronskaya). A whirlwind romance began between them, which lasted for many years.
Over time, they got married, but even before her marriage she gave birth to daughters Anna (1708) and Elizabeth (1709) from the emperor. Elizabeth later became empress (reigned 1741-1761)
Katerina was a very smart and insightful girl. She alone managed, with the help of affection and patience, to calm the king when he had acute attacks of headache.
Peter I with the sign of the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called on a blue St. Andrew's ribbon and a star on his chest. J.-M. Nattier, 1717 They officially got married only in 1712. After that, they had 9 more children, most of whom died at an early age.
Peter the Great truly loved Katerina. The Order of St. Catherine was established in her honor and a city in the Urals was named. The Catherine Palace in Tsarskoye Selo (built under her daughter Elizaveta Petrovna) also bears the name of Catherine I.
Soon, another woman, Maria Cantemir, appeared in the biography of Peter 1, who remained the emperor’s favorite until the end of his life.
It is worth noting that Peter the Great was very tall - 203 cm. At that time, he was considered a real giant, and was head and shoulders taller than everyone else.
However, the size of his feet did not correspond to his height at all. The autocrat wore size 39 shoes and had very narrow shoulders. As an additional support, he always carried a cane with him on which he could lean.
Death of Peter
Despite the fact that outwardly Peter 1 seemed to be a very strong and healthy person, in fact he suffered from migraine attacks throughout his life.
In the last years of his life, he also began to suffer from kidney stones, which he tried to ignore.
At the beginning of 1725, the pain became so severe that he could no longer get out of bed. His health condition worsened every day, and his suffering became unbearable.
Peter 1 Alekseevich Romanov died on January 28, 1725 in the Winter Palace. The official cause of his death was pneumonia.
The Bronze Horseman is a monument to Peter I on Senate Square in St. Petersburg However, an autopsy showed that death was due to inflammation of the bladder, which soon developed into gangrene.
Peter the Great was buried in the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg, and his wife Catherine 1 became the heir to the Russian throne.
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According to various sociological surveys, Peter I remains one of the most popular historical figures in our time. Sculptors still exalt him, poets compose odes to him, and politicians speak enthusiastically about him.
But did the real person Pyotr Alekseevich Romanov correspond to the image that, through the efforts of writers and filmmakers, was introduced into our consciousness?
Still from the film "Peter the Great" based on the novel by A. N. Tolstoy (Lenfilm, 1937 - 1938, director Vladimir Petrov,
in the role of Peter - Nikolai Simonov, in the role of Menshikov - Mikhail Zharov):
This post is quite lengthy in content. , consisting of several parts, is dedicated to exposing the myths about the first Russian emperor, which still wander from book to book, from textbook to textbook, and from film to film.
Let's start with the fact that the majority imagines Peter I to be absolutely different from what he really was.
According to the films, Peter is a huge man with a heroic physique and the same health.
In fact, with a height of 2 meters 4 centimeters (indeed, huge in those days, and quite impressive in our times), he was incredibly thin, with narrow shoulders and torso, a disproportionately small head and foot size (about size 37, and this is with so tall!), with long arms and spider-like fingers. In general, an absurd, awkward, clumsy figure, a freak of a freak.
The clothes of Peter I, preserved to this day in museums, are so small that there can be no talk of any heroic physique. In addition, Peter suffered from nervous attacks, probably of an epileptic nature, was constantly ill, and never parted with a traveling first aid kit containing many medications that he took daily.
Peter's court portrait painters and sculptors should not be trusted either.
For example, the famous researcher of the Peter I era, historian E. F. Shmurlo
(1853 - 1934) describes his impression of the famous bust of Peter I by B. F. Rastrelli:
“Full of spiritual power, an unyielding will, a commanding gaze, an intense thought, this bust is related to Michelangelo’s Moses. This is a truly formidable king, capable of causing awe, but at the same time majestic and noble.”
This more accurately conveys the appearance of Peter plaster mask taken from his face in 1718 the father of the great architect - B. K. Rastrelli , when the tsar was conducting an investigation into the treason of Tsarevich Alexei.
This is how the artist describes it A. N. Benois (1870 - 1960):“At this time, Peter’s face became gloomy, downright terrifying in its menacingness. One can imagine what impression this terrible head, placed on a gigantic body, must have made, with darting eyes and terrible convulsions that turned this face into a monstrously fantastic image.”
Of course, the real appearance of Peter I was completely different from what appears before us on his ceremonial portraits.
For example, these:
Portrait of Peter I (1698) by a German artist
Gottfried Kneller (1648 - 1723)
Portrait of Peter I with the insignia of the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called (1717)
works by the French painter Jean-Marc Nattier (1685 - 1766)
Please note that between the painting of this portrait and the making of Peter’s lifetime mask
Rastrelli was only a year old. Are they really similar?
Most popular currently and highly romanticized
in accordance with the time of creation (1838) portrait of Peter I
works by the French artist Paul Delaroche (1797 - 1856)
Trying to be objective, I cannot help but note that monument to Peter I , works of sculptor Mikhail Shemyakin , made by him in the USA and installed in the Peter and Paul Fortress in 1991 , also little corresponds to the real image of the first Russian Emperor, although, quite possibly, the sculptor sought to embody the same "monstrously fantastic image" , which Benoit spoke about.
Yes, Peter's face was made from his death wax mask (cast by B.K. Rastrelli). But Mikhail Shemyakin consciously, achieving a certain effect, increased the proportions of the body by almost one and a half times. Therefore, the monument turned out to be grotesque and ambiguous (some people admire it, while others hate it).
However, the figure of Peter I himself is very ambiguous, which is what I want to tell everyone who is interested in Russian history.
At the end of this part about another myth concerning death of Peter I .
Peter did not die from catching a cold while saving a boat with drowning people during a flood in St. Petersburg in November 1724 (although such a case actually happened, and it led to an exacerbation of the Tsar’s chronic illnesses); and not from syphilis (although from his youth Peter was extremely promiscuous in his relationships with women and had a whole bunch of sexually transmitted diseases); and not because he was poisoned with some “specially gifted sweets” - all these are widespread myths.
The official version, announced after the death of the emperor, according to which the cause of his death was pneumonia, does not stand up to criticism either.
In fact, Peter I had advanced inflammation of the urethra (he suffered from this disease since 1715, according to some sources, even since 1711). The disease worsened in August 1724. The attending physicians, the Englishman Horn and the Italian Lazzaretti, tried unsuccessfully to cope with it. From January 17, 1725, Peter no longer got out of bed; on January 23, he lost consciousness, to which he never returned until his death on January 28.
"Peter on his deathbed"
(artist N. N. Nikitin, 1725)
Doctors performed the operation, but it was too late; 15 hours after the operation, Peter I died without regaining consciousness and without leaving a will.
So, all the stories about how at the last moment the dying emperor tried to write his last will on his will, but only managed to write "Leave everything..." , are also nothing more than a myth, or if you want, a legend.
In the next short part so as not to make you sad, I’ll give you historical anecdote about Peter I , which, however, also refers to the myths about this ambiguous personality.
Thank you for attention.
Sergey Vorobiev.
