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1 Chapter 1 : The Life of Peter the Great - Sir John Barrow - Google Books Peter the Great was a Russian czar in the late 17th century, who is best known for his extensive reforms in an attempt to establish Russia as a great nation. Born in Moscow, Russia on June 9, The son of Tsar Alexis, Peter the Great, changed the historical fate of Russia by radically turning away from the Byzantine heritage and reforming the state according to the model of Protestant Europe. The destruction of the streltsy From England, Peter went on to Austria; but while he was negotiating in Vienna for a continuance of the anti-turkish alliance, he received news of a fresh revolt of the streltsy in Moscow. In the summer of he was back in Moscow, where he suppressed the revolt. Hundreds of the streltsy were executed, the rest of the rebels were exiled to distant towns, and the corps of the streltsy was disbanded. The Northern War â 21 When it became clear that Austria, no less than the Maritime Powers, was preparing to fight for the Spanish Succession and to make peace with Turkey, Peter saw that Russia could not contemplate a war without allies against the Turks, and he abandoned his plans for pushing forward from the Sea of Azov to the Black Sea. He was now turning his attention to the Baltic instead, following the tradition of his predecessors. To dislodge them, Peter took an active part in forming the great alliance, comprising Russia, Saxony, and Denmarkâ Norway, which started the Northern War in In planning it and in sustaining it he displayed iron willpower, extraordinary energy, and outstanding gifts of statesmanship, generalship, and diplomacy. The defeat of the Russians at Narva, very early in the war, did not deter Peter and, in fact, he later described it as a blessing: He also travelled abroad again for diplomatic reasonsâ e. In, on the banks of the Neva River, where it flows into the Gulf of Finland, Peter began construction of the city of St. Petersburg and established it as the new capital of Russia in In celebration of his triumph, the Senate on November 2 October 22, O. Their sufferings, combined with onerous taxation, provoked a number of revolts, the most important of which were that of Astrakhan â 06 and that led by Kondraty Afanasyevich Bulavin in the Don Basin â These revolts were cruelly put down. In the summer of Peter marched against the Turks through Bessarabia into Moldavia, but he was surrounded, with all his forces, on the Prut River. Obliged to sue for peace, he was fortunate to obtain very light terms from the inept Turkish negotiators, who allowed him to retire with no greater sacrifice than the retrocession of Azov. The Turkish government soon decided to renew hostilities; but the Peace of Adrianople Edirne was concluded in, leaving Azov to the Turks. Peter, meanwhile, had formed a lasting liaison with a low-born woman, the future empress Catherine I, who bore him other children and whom he married in Pressed finally to mend his ways or to become a monk in renunciation of his hereditary rights, Alexis took refuge in the dominions of the Holy Roman emperor Charles VI, but he was induced to return to Russia in Thereupon proceedings were brought against him on charges of high treason, and after torture he was condemned to death. He died in prison, presumably by violence, before the formal execution of the sentence. The Persian campaign â 23 Even during the second half of the Northern War, Peter had sent exploratory missions to the Eastâ to the Central Asian steppes in, to the Caspian region in, and to Khiva in The end of the war left him free to resume a more active policy on his southeastern frontier. In Persia ceded the western and southern shores of the Caspian to Russia in return for military aid. In the autumn of, seeing some soldiers in danger of drowning from a ship aground on a sandbank in the Gulf of Finland, he characteristically plunged himself into the icy water to help them. Catching a chill, he became seriously ill in the winter but even so continued to work; indeed, it was at this time that he drew up the instructions for the expedition of Vitus Bering to Kamchatka. Though he had in issued a decree reserving to himself the right to nominate his successor, he did not in fact nominate anyone. His widow Catherine, whom he had crowned as empress in, succeeded him to the temporary exclusion of his grandson, the future Peter II. Breaking the resistance of the boyars, or members of the ancient landed aristocracy, and of the clergy and severely punishing all other opposition to his projects, he initiated a series of reforms that affected, in the course of 25 years, every field of the national lifeâ administration, industry, commerce, technology, and culture. The reform of the urban administration was particularly significant. By a decree of, townspeople artisans and tradesmen were released from subjection to the military governors of the provinces and were authorized to Page 1

2 elect municipalities of their own, which would be subordinated to the Moscow municipality, or ratushaâ the council of the great merchant community of the capital. This reform was carried further in, with the establishment of a chief magistracy in St. Petersburg, to which the local town magistracies and the elected municipal officers of the towns mayors, or burmistry; and councillors, or ratmany were subordinated. The regulars were subdivided between two guilds â the first comprising rich merchants and members of the liberal professions doctors, actors, and artists ; the second, artisans classified according to their vocations and small tradesmen. A merchant belonged to the first or to the second guild according to the amount of his capital; and those who were also manufacturers had special privileges, coming under the jurisdiction of the College of Manufactures and being exempt from the billeting of troops, from elective rotas of duty, and from military service. The commons were hired labourers, without the privileges of regulars. Thanks to the reforms, the economic activity and the population of the towns increased. In these guberny were dissolved into 50 provintsy, or provinces, which in turn were subdivided into districts. The census of, however, was followed by the substitution of a poll tax for the previous hearth tax; and this provoked a wave of popular discontent, against which Peter decided to distribute the army regiments released from active service by the Peace of Nystad in garrisons throughout the country and to make their maintenance obligatory on the local populations. The regimental commanders, with their own sphere of jurisdiction and their own requirements, added another layer to the already complex system of local authority. In he abolished the boyarskaya duma, or boyar council, and established by decree the Senate as the supreme organ of stateâ to coordinate the action of the various central and local organs, to supervise the collection and expenditure of revenue, and to draft legislation in accordance with his edicts. Martial discipline was extended to civil institutions, and an officer of the guards was always on duty in the Senate. Their activities were controlled, on the one hand, by the General Regulation and, on the other, by particular regulations for individual colleges, and indeed there were strict regulations for every branch of the state administration. Crimes against the state came under the jurisdiction of the Preobrazhensky Office, responsible immediately to the tsar. In order to provide armaments and to build his navy Russia had virtually no warships at all, metallurgical and manufacturing industries on a grand scale had to be created; and Peter devoted himself tirelessly to meeting these needs. Large capital investments were made, and numerous privileges were accorded to businessmen and industrialists. The methods of other countries were further studied, and foreign experts were invited to Russia. The overall result was satisfactory: The armed forces Peter established a regular army on completely modern lines for Russia in the place of the unreliable streltsy and the militia of the gentry. While he drew his officers from the nobility, he conscripted peasants and townspeople into the other ranks. Service was for life. The troops were equipped with flintlock firearms and bayonets of Russian make; uniforms were provided; and regular drilling was introduced. For the artillery, obsolete cannons were replaced with new mortars and guns designed by Russian specialists or even by Peter himself he drew up projects of his own for multicannon warships, fortresses, and ordnance. Several special schools prepared their pupils for military or naval service and finally enabled Peter to dispense with foreign experts. In the Old Church Slavonic alphabet was modernized into a secular script. Peter was the first ruler of Russia to sponsor education on secular lines and to bring an element of state control into that field. Various secular schools were opened; and since too few pupils came from the nobility, the children of soldiers, officials, and churchmen were admitted to them. In many cases, compulsory service to the state was preceded by compulsory education for it. The translation of books from western European languages was actively promoted. The Russian Academy of Sciences was instituted in Beside his useful measures, Peter often enforced superficial Europeanization rather brutally; for example, when he decreed that beards should be shorn off and Western dress worn. He personally cut the beards of his boyars and the skirts of their long coats kaftany. The Raskolniki Old Believers and merchants who insisted on keeping their beards had to pay a special tax, but peasants and the Orthodox clergy were allowed to remain bearded. The Holy Synod ferociously persecuted all dissenters and conducted a censorship of all publications. The regular clergy were forbidden to allow men under 30 years old or serfs to take vows as monks. The church was thus transformed into a pillar of the absolutist regime. Partly in the interests of the nobility, the extent of land owned by the church was restricted; Peter disposed of ecclesiastical and monastic property and revenues at his own Page 2

3 discretion, for state purposes. The material position of the landed nobility was strengthened considerably under Peter. Almost, acres of land and, serfs were allotted to it in the first half of the reign alone. Moreover, a decree of that instituted succession by primogeniture and so prevented the breaking up of large properties also removed the old distinction between pomestya lands granted by the tsar to the nobility in return for service and votchiny patrimonial or allodial lands so that all such property became hereditary. This replaced the old system of promotion in the state services, which had been according to ancestry, by one of promotion according to services actually rendered. It classified all functionariesâ military, naval, and civilian alikeâ in 14 categories, the 14th being the lowest and the 1st the highest; and admission to the 8th category conferred hereditary nobility. The predominance of the boyars ended. Personality and achievement Peter was of enormous height, more than six and one-half feet two metres tall; he was handsome and of unusual physical strength. Unlike all earlier Russian tsars, whose Byzantine splendours he repudiated, he was very simple in his manners; for example, he enjoyed conversation over a mug of beer with shipwrights and sailors from the foreign ships visiting St. Restless, energetic, and impulsive, he did not like splendid clothes that hindered his movements; often he appeared in worn-out shoes and an old hat, still more often in military or naval uniform. He was fond of merrymaking and knew how to conduct it, though his jokes were frequently crude; and he sometimes drank heavily and forced his guests to do so too. A just man who did not tolerate dishonesty, he was terrible in his anger and could be cruel when he encountered opposition: Sometimes Peter would beat his high officials with his stick, from which even Prince A. Menshikov, his closest friend, received many a stroke. He always acted as an autocrat, convinced of the wonder-working power of compulsion by the state. He began his own army service in the lowest rank and required others likewise to master their profession from its elements upward and to expect promotion only for services of real value. A man of original and shrewd intellect, exuberant, courageous, industrious, and iron-willed, he could soberly appraise complex and changeable situations so as to uphold consistently the general interests of Russia and his own particular designs. He did not completely bridge the gulf between Russia and the Western countries, but he achieved considerable progress in development of the national economy and trade, education, science and culture, and foreign policy. Russia became a great power, without whose concurrence no important European problem could thenceforth be settled. His internal reforms achieved progress to an extent that no earlier innovator could have envisaged. Page 3

4 Chapter 2 : Peter the Great - Wikipedia Peter the Great was a Russian Tsar in the late 17th century who later on became the first Emperor of Russia. A very powerful ruler, he was famous for engaging in numerous military campaigns in order to expand his Tsardom into a large empire. Moscow - 30 May 9 June Died: Petersburg - 28 January 8 February Reigned: Books about the "Tsar Reformer" continue to be written to this day, and we will hardly be able to describe here all of his many accomplishments and achievements. Petersburg, where he is rightfully lauded as the Founder of the City, and honored with numerous memorials. Monument to Peter the Great on Senatskaya Ploshchad. In the background is the Ss. Although only ten years old, Peter was chosen by the Boyar Duma as heir over his other half-brother, Ivan, as the latter suffered chronic physical and mental disabilities. In the subsequent rioting and violence, Peter witnessed the slaughter of several members of his family, including two of his uncles at the hand of the Streltsy. The result of the uprising was that Sofia became regent and Ivan was crowned Ivan V, sharing the throne as a senior partner with Peter. Tsaritsa Natalya Kirillova shows Ivan V to the Streltsy to prove he is alive and well by Nikolay Dmitriev-Orenburgskiy Peter never forgot these bloody events and many historians believe that his complex, brusque but also energetic and decisive character was shaped by these childhood experiences. Peter spent his childhood and early youth in the village of Preobrazhenskoe, not far from Moscow, where he lived with his mother, organized "mock" regiments, learned to sail on sailboats, and only rarely traveled to Moscow for official ceremonies. In, at the age of seventeen, Peter successfully removed Sofia from power, and at the urging of his mother married Eudoxia Lopykhina. The marriage was not a happy one: Many years later, Alexey was arrested, charged with treason, and died in the Peter and Paul Fortress under mysterious circumstances, while Eudoxia was divorced by Peter in and then forced to enter a convent. Even as a boy, the youngest son of Tsar Alexey was naturally curious and drawn to learning, and he received his education not only from palace tutors, but also in German Town, a district of Moscow where many enlightened foreigners lived. There young Peter became interested in the latest developments in science and technology as well as natural science, which until this point had never caught the attention of Russian Tsars. Peter the Great in foreign costume before his mother, Tsaritsa Natalya, Patriarch Andrian, and his tutor Zotov by Nikolay Nevrev Setting off to Europe in on the so-called Grand Embassy a large Russian delegation whose purpose was to find allies for the war with Turkey, Peter travelled incognito under the pseudonym of Pyotr Mikhailov. In Prussia, the Tsar studied artillery and received a certificate as a firearms master, and in Holland he learned the craft of shipbuilding by working at the bustling Dutch docks. Then he set off to England to study the latest advances in shipbuilding and industry. In London, the young Tsar visited the Houses of Parliament, and was quite displeased with what he heard as he listened to a session of the House of Commons through an "auditory window": As he travelled about Europe, Peter visited factories and libraries, listened to lectures at universities, and caroused with comrades, but this educational and entertaining voyage was cut short after 18 months by news of a Streltsy revolt in Moscow. For the rest of his life, Peter the Great retained his love of knowledge, new technology, and of learned people, as is evidenced by his personal belongings, library and the interiors of his palaces. Portrait of Peter the Great by Godfrey Kneller Many volumes have been written about the reforms undertaken in Russia on the initiative of Peter the Great, and discussion about them continues to this day. Some believe that these reforms allowed Russia and thereafter the Russian Empire to attain status as one of the leading powers in Europe. Others lament the loss of the unique cultural and spiritual traditions that had existed in Russia in the pre-petrine period. Peter the Great introduced the Julian calendar in Russia with its celebration of the New Year on 1 January, and the tradition of decorating Christmas trees. He also forced the upper classes to dress in a European style and to shave their mustaches and beards. Foreigners familiar with the newest developments in military science were actively sought for positions as senior officers and generals, and the Tsar diligently recruited Russian experts in all fields, including shipbuilding, military affairs, the sciences, and the arts. Starting with Peter, for the next two centuries, one of the duties of Russian ambassadors serving abroad was to recruit foreign specialists to work in Page 4

5 Russia. Peter the Great created a system of civil service in Russia by introducing the Table of Ranks: The Table of Ranks was designed to create a "social elevator" for hardworking military and government officials and to reduce the abuse of appointments and promotions in service. In, Petersburg was made the capital of Russia, and in Russia was declared an Empire, with Peter assuming the title of the Emperor of All Russia. Peter the Great died in St. Petersburg in early in his small Winter Palace on the banks of the Winter Canal. Page 5

6 Chapter 3 : Buy Peter the Great: His Life and His World Online at Low Prices in USA - blog.quintoapp.com Peter was portrayed on BBC Radio 4 by Isaac Rouse as a boy, Will Howard as a young adult and Elliot Cowan as an adult in the radio plays Peter the Great: The Gamblers and Peter the Great: The Queen of Spades, written by Mike Walker and which were the last two plays in the first series of Tsar. The plays were broadcast on 25 September and 2. He single-handedly changed the course of Russian history, turning the country into a powerful empire ranking alongside the other European powers. The imperial period of Russian history begins with Peter I. Peter was the first child and first son of Tsar Alexis Mikhailovich and his second wife Natalia Naryshkina. The daughter of a nobleman, Natalia had married the tsar on 22 January Alexis already had thirteen children from his first marriage to Maria Miloslavskaya, who died in Peter was born in Moscow on 30 May and baptised at the Monastery of the Miracle on 29 June He began walking at the age of six months. At the age of five, he was introduced to his first tutor, Nikita Zotov, a deacon of the petitions department. Although he learnt to read and write, he did not receive a good education. A hopeless invalid, the sick and feeble Feodor did not rule for long, dying in spring On 27 April, the boyars decided to pass over the next boy, the sixteen-year-old Ivan, who had mental deficiencies. This represented an important victory for the Naryshkins over their rivals, the Miloslavsky family. The thwarted Miloslavskys hatched a plot against the Naryshkins. They spread rumours that Ivan had been secretly strangled, provoking an angry uprising among the Streltsy Guards. In May, a mob broke into the Kremlin, savagely murdered many of the closest relatives of Natalia Naryshkina, and made Ivan V co-tsar alongside Peter I. Ambitious and cunning, it was Sophia who had stirred up the Streltsy revolt. She had long dreamt of supreme power and now her plan had succeeded. Peter was haunted by the memories of the Streltsy guards breaking into the Kremlin and killing his relatives. The fear that he had experienced back then, as a ten-year-old, stayed with him forever. From that time onwards, he fostered an implacable hatred of the Streltsy, Muscovy and the old Russia, which he intended to destroy one day. The Naryshkins retired to a suburban palace in the village of Preobrazhenskoe outside Moscow. There, Peter grew up into a lively and inquisitive boy, who showed an early interest in military strategy. He spent most of his time holding mock battles with toy armies. Deprived of experienced tutors or instructors, he did not receive the normal upbringing of a Muscovite tsar? His formal education was full of gaps, and he soon began to display an unruly and uninhibited character. As there was no force at Preobrazhenskoe capable of defending the Naryshkins should the Streltsy revolt break out again, Peter decided to create his own army. Besides the children of boyars, the young tsar was joined at Preobrazhenskoe by a large number of courtiers. From their ranks he formed a toy poteshny brigade, which gradually, under the guise of childhood games, turned into a military unit. This detachment was known as the Preobrazhenskoe Toy Regiment. When the number of amateur forces grew, a second battalion was formed in the neighbouring village of Semyonovskoe, called the Semyonovsky Toy Regiment. The forces were trained by foreign officers in the West European manner. They fought mock battles with real weapons, often leading to serious injuries and several deaths. The first mock battles were more like village fistfights. The two regiments would line up against a detachment of Streltsy guards on the bank of the River Yauza. The situation became increasingly heated, with the two sides eventually coming to blows. The foreign instructors gradually began to develop these battles into regular manoeuvres along Western lines. A fortress called Pressburg â a miniature copy of the fort in modern-day Bratislava â was built on the River Yauza to study the art of defending and besieging fortifications. Besides infantry formations, there were also artillery and cavalry detachments and a toy navy on Lake Pereyaslavl. The toy forces were officially renamed the Preobrazhensky and Semyonovsky regiments in The four hundred officers were mostly foreigners, although only Russian noblemen could be the sergeants. Both regiments were headed by General Avtamon Golovin. The size of the regiments gradually grew. By the mids, the Preobrazhensky Regiment counted ten companies, including a bomber squad. The Preobrazhensky and Semyonovsky regiments gave Peter the means to defend himself from potential enemies and a tool to resolve important matters of state. Peter left Preobrazhenskoe for the safety of the St Sergius Monastery of the Trinity, where he was joined by the Preobrazhensky and Semyonovsky regiments. He managed to move aside the handicapped Tsar Ivan V Page 6

7 and to isolate Sophia. She was incarcerated in the Novodevichy Convent, while her Streltsy supporters went to the scaffold. Although the Naryshkins had managed to overthrow Sophia, Peter did not feel ready yet to take control of the government into his own hands. He preferred to engage in his two favourite pastimes â shipbuilding and war games. He entrusted all affairs of state to his mother, who was a shrewd and intelligent woman. She was helped by Prince Vasily Golitsyn a heavy drinker and a cunning politician and her brother Lev a heavy drinker and a poor politician. Natalia Naryshkina took many independent decisions, such as a decree banishing the Jesuits from Russia or the burning of Kulman the Mystic at the stake on Red Square. Patrick Gordon, a Scottish general in Russian service, complained in a letter to London in July that Peter was completely uninterested in governing. When a new sultan assumed power in Turkey, he informed all the European rulers, with the exception of the Russian tsar. Peter only really grew into the role of tsar after his mother died in and he was forced to take over the running of the state himself. In and, he led two attempts to capture the Turkish fortress of Azov. The second attempt was successful and Peter founded a Russian fleet at Azov. Russia was to be not only a great continental power, but also a great naval power. Construction of a regular Russian navy began on 4 November Not having any clear idea as to how to modernise the country, Peter decided to go on a fact-finding mission to Europe. His plans to visit Italy in were thwarted when he received news of another revolt of the Streltsy guards in support of Sophia. Although the tsar hurried back to Moscow, by the time he arrived the revolt had already been put down by his toy regiments. Prince Fyodor Romodanovsky of the Preobrazhensky Office launched an official investigation into the revolt. Streltsy guards were executed en masse, with Peter himself chopping off several heads. In February, the Streltsy detachments were disbanded and any surviving guards were banished to the far reaches of the country. Peter decided to make a clean sweep of his enemies by confining his wife Eudoxia to a convent. Returning to Russia, Peter launched an ambitious programme of reforms, which transformed the country beyond recognition over the course of two decades. He reorganised the system of government, finance and trade, created a new army, and built a navy and heavy industry. The changes affected virtually every aspect of Russian life, from how people worked to the way they looked and dressed. For a long time, the tsar was unhappy in his personal life. Peter and Eudoxia were badly mismatched and the marriage was not a success. They had three children, but only the eldest son, Alexis, survived. In August, Peter finally divorced Eudoxia. She was forced to become a nun and banished to the Convent of the Intercession of the Virgin in Suzdal. In, Peter began living with Martha Skowronska, who had been among a group of inhabitants captured when Russian troops took the town of Marienburg in Lifland during the war against Sweden. The soldier who had captured Martha presented her to an officer, who gave her to Fieldmarshal Boris Sheremetev. Prince Alexander Menshikov took her away from the fieldmarshal and gave her to the tsar as a present. In, he officially married Catherine, transforming the former Livonian washerwoman into the tsarina of Russia. She gave birth to ten children, but only two daughters survived childhood â Anna and Elizabeth. The long-awaited heir, Tsarevich Peter Petrovich, was finally born in In, Peter I not only acquired a new wife, but also a new capital when he found himself on the shores of the Baltic Sea. In the course of the Great Northern War against Sweden â 21, the Russian army besieged and captured the small fortress of Nyenskans on the River Neva. The tsar sailed down the river to the place where it flowed into the Gulf of Finland and surveyed the nearby countryside. Standing on the wild seashore, Peter dreamt of creating a naval base, a commercial port, a centre of shipbuilding and the capital of a new state. On 16 May, he laid the foundations of a new fortress on Zayachy Hare Island. This was the beginning of the new capital of the Russian Empire â St Petersburg. Valentin Serov, who painted a series of works dedicated to Peter the Great, a figure he admired, compiled his own image of the tsar: He was frightening to look at â a long body on thin, scrawny legs, with such a small head in comparison to the rest of the body that he must have looked more like a scarecrow with a badly fitting head than a living person. He was forever grimacing, winking, twitching his mouth and slapping his chin. He took enormous strides and his companions were forced to run to keep up with him. I can imagine what a monster he must have seemed to foreigners and how frightening he was to the people of St Petersburg. A freak with a constantly twitching head Vasily Klyuchevsky noted another of his traits: He always avoided magnificent royal palaces whenever he was abroad. A son of the endless Russian steppe, he felt suffocated among the hills of a narrow German valley. Page 7

8 Strangely enough, growing up in the open air and accustomed to wide spaces, he could not live in a room with a high ceiling. Whenever he found himself in one, he would order a special canvas ceiling to be hung low. Perhaps the cramped conditions of his childhood had left its mark on him. He was ambitious, intuitive, despotic, courageous, cruel and self-assured. Page 8

9 Chapter 4 : Catherine the Great - Wikipedia Without doubt, Peter the Great's childhood toughened his outlook on life and people. His life was constantly under threat from factions surrounding the two widows of his father. When his father, Alexis, died in January, Peter's elder brother succeeded as Theodore III. Title The imperial title of Peter the Great was the following: This position changed when Feodor died in As Feodor did not leave any children, a dispute arose between the Miloslavsky family Maria Miloslavskaya was the first wife of Alexis I and Naryshkin family Natalya Naryshkina was the second wife over who should inherit the throne. Consequently, the Boyar Duma a council of Russian nobles chose the year-old Peter to become Tsar with his mother as regent. Peter the Great as a child This arrangement was brought before the people of Moscow, as ancient tradition demanded, and was ratified. Sophia acted as regent during the minority of the sovereigns and exercised all power. For seven years, she ruled as an autocrat. A large hole was cut in the back of the dual-seated throne used by Ivan and Peter. Sophia would sit behind the throne and listen as Peter conversed with nobles, while feeding him information and giving him responses to questions and problems. This throne can be seen in the Kremlin Armoury in Moscow. Peter was not particularly concerned that others ruled in his name. He engaged in such pastimes as shipbuilding and sailing, as well as mock battles with his toy army. When she learned of his designs, Sophia conspired with the leaders of the Streltsy, who continually aroused disorder and dissent. Peter, warned by the Streltsy, escaped in the middle of the night to the impenetrable monastery of Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra ; there he slowly gathered adherents who perceived he would win the power struggle. Sophia was eventually overthrown, with Peter I and Ivan V continuing to act as co-tsars. Still, Peter could not acquire actual control over Russian affairs. Power was instead exercised by his mother, Natalya Naryshkina. It was only when Natalya died in that Peter, now age 22, became an independent sovereign. Peter became the sole ruler when Ivan died in Peter was 24 years old. Peter grew to be extremely tall as an adult, especially for the time period. Both his hands and feet were small, [8] [ citation needed ] and his shoulders were narrow for his height; likewise, his head was small for his tall body. He faced much opposition to these policies at home but brutally suppressed rebellions against his authority, including by the Streltsy, Bashkirs, Astrakhan, and the greatest civil uprising of his reign, the Bulavin Rebellion. Peter implemented social modernization in an absolute manner by introducing French and western dress to his court and requiring courtiers, state officials, and the military to shave their beards and adopt modern clothing styles. His only outlet at the time was the White Sea at Arkhangelsk. Peter attempted to acquire control of the Black Sea, which would require expelling the Tatars from the surrounding areas. In the summer of Peter organized the Azov campaigns to take the fortress, but his attempts ended in failure. Peter returned to Moscow in November and began building a large navy. He launched about thirty ships against the Ottomans in, capturing Azov in July of that year. In he traveled "incognito" to Western Europe on an month journey with a large Russian delegationâ the so-called "Grand Embassy". He used a fake name, allowing him to escape social and diplomatic events, but since he was far taller than most others, he did not fool anyone of importance. France was a traditional ally of the Ottoman Sultan, and Austria was eager to maintain peace in the east while conducting its own wars in the west. Peter, furthermore, had chosen an inopportune moment: While visiting the Netherlands, Peter learned much about life in Western Europe. He studied shipbuilding in Zaandam the house he lived in is now a museum, the Czar Peter House and Amsterdam, where he visited, among others, the upper-class de Wilde family. The Tsar helped with the construction of an East Indiaman especially laid down for him: Peter paid a visit to Frederik Ruysch, who taught him how to draw teeth and catch butterflies. Ludolf Bakhuysen, a painter of seascapes. Jan van der Heyden, the inventor of the fire hose, received Peter, who was keen to learn and pass on his knowledge to his countrymen. On 16 January Peter organized a farewell party and invited Johan Huydecoper van Maarsseveen, who had to sit between Lefort and the Tsar and drink. He studied the English techniques of city-building he would later use to great effect at Saint Petersburg. Cross said it was not enough. Peter nevertheless acted ruthlessly towards the mutineers. Over 1, of the rebels were tortured and executed, and Peter ordered that their bodies be publicly exhibited as a warning to Page 9

10 future conspirators. In Peter sent a delegation to Malta, under boyar Boris Sheremetev, to observe the training and abilities of the Knights of Malta and their fleet. Sheremetev investigated the possibility of future joint ventures with the Knights, including action against the Turks and the possibility of a future Russian naval base. He commanded all of his courtiers and officials to wear European clothing and cut off their long beards, causing his Boyars, who were very fond of their beards, great upset. Peter also sought to end arranged marriages, which were the norm among the Russian nobility, because he thought such a practice was barbaric and led to domestic violence, since the partners usually resented each other. Thus, in the year of the old Russian calendar, Peter proclaimed that the Julian Calendar was in effect and the year was Great Northern War Peter made a temporary peace with the Ottoman Empire that allowed him to keep the captured fort of Azov, and turned his attention to Russian maritime supremacy. He sought to acquire control of the Baltic Sea, which had been taken by the Swedish Empire a half-century earlier. Peter I of Russia pacifies his marauding troops after retaking Narva in, by Nikolay Sauerweid, Russia was ill-prepared to fight the Swedes, and their first attempt at seizing the Baltic coast ended in disaster at the Battle of Narva in In the conflict, the forces of Charles XII, rather than employ a slow methodical siege, attacked immediately using a blinding snowstorm to their advantage. While the Poles fought the Swedes, Peter founded the city of Saint Petersburg in, in Ingermanland a province of the Swedish Empire that he had captured. It was named after his patron saint Saint Peter. Between and and in â, Saint Petersburg was the capital of imperial Russia. In the Battle of Lesnaya, Charles suffered his first loss after Peter crushed a group of Swedish reinforcements marching from Riga. Deprived of this aid, Charles was forced to abandon his proposed march on Moscow. Peter withdrew his army southward, employing scorched earth, destroying along the way anything that could assist the Swedes. Deprived of local supplies, the Swedish army was forced to halt its advance in the winter of â In the summer of, they resumed their efforts to capture Russian-ruled Ukraine, culminating in the Battle of Poltava on 27 June. Normally, the Boyar Duma would have exercised power during his absence. Peter, however, mistrusted the boyars; he instead abolished the Duma and created a Senate of ten members. The Senate was founded as the highest state institution to supervise all judicial, financial and administrative affairs. Without his signature no Senate decision could go into effect; the Senate became one of the most important institutions of Imperial Russia. In the Russian fleet won the Battle of Gangut. Most of Finland was occupied by the Russians. In and, the Tsar revisited the Netherlands and went to see Herman Boerhaave. He continued his travel to the Austrian Netherlands and France. Peter obtained the assistance of the Electorate of Hanover and the Kingdom of Prussia. Still, Charles XII refused to yield, and not until his death in battle in did peace become feasible. Russia acquired Ingria, Estonia, Livonia, and a substantial portion of Karelia. In turn, Russia paid two million Riksdaler and surrendered most of Finland. The Tsar retained some Finnish lands close to Saint Petersburg, which he had made his capital in On 22 October, soon after peace was made with Sweden, he was officially proclaimed Emperor of All Russia. Some proposed that he take the title Emperor of the East, but he refused. In the minds of many, the word emperor connoted superiority or pre-eminence over kings. Several rulers feared that Peter would claim authority over them, just as the Holy Roman Emperor had claimed suzerainty over all Christian nations. The expedition ended in complete disaster when the entire expeditionary force was slaughtered. In Peter investigated why the formerly Swedish province of Livonia was so orderly. He discovered that the Swedes spent as much administering Livonia times smaller than his empire as he spent on the entire Russian bureaucracy. Later others were added. Each college consisted of a president, a vice-president, a number of councilors and assessors, and a procurator. Some foreigners were included in various colleges but not as president. Peter believed he did not have enough loyal and talented persons to put in full charge of the various departments. Peter preferred to rely on groups of individuals who would keep check on one another. In Peter created a new order of precedence known as the Table of Ranks. Formerly, precedence had been determined by birth. To deprive the Boyars of their high positions, Peter directed that precedence should be determined by merit and service to the Emperor. The Table of Ranks continued to remain in effect until the Russian monarchy was overthrown in Peter decided that all of the children of the nobility should have some early education, especially in the areas of sciences. Therefore, on 28 February, he issued a decree calling for compulsory education, which dictated that all Russian to year-old children of the Page 10

11 nobility, government clerks, and lesser-ranked officials must learn basic mathematics and geometry, and should be tested on the subjects at the end of their studies. Taking advantage of the profitable situation, Peter launched the Russo-Persian War of, otherwise known as "The Persian Expedition of Peter the Great", which drastically increased Russian influence for the first time in the Caucasus and Caspian Sea region, and prevented the Ottoman Empire from making territorial gains in the region. After considerable success and the capture of many provinces and cities in the Caucasus and northern mainland Persia, the Safavids were forced to hand over territory to Russia, comprising Derbent, Shirvan, Gilan, Mazandaran, Baku, and Astrabad. However, within twelve years all the territories would be ceded back to Persia, now led by the charismatic military genius Nader Shah, as part of the Treaties of Resht and Ganja respectively, and the Russo-Persian alliance against the Ottoman Empire, which was the common enemy of both. He abolished the land tax and household tax and replaced them with a poll tax. The taxes on land and on households were payable only by individuals who owned property or maintained families; the new head taxes, however, were payable by serfs and paupers. In the construction of Peterhof, a palace near Saint Petersburg, was completed. Religion The statue of Peter I in Saint Petersburg, informally known as the Bronze Horseman Peter was deeply religious, being brought up in the Russian Orthodox faith, but he had low regard for the Church hierarchy, which he kept under tight governmental control. Page 11

12 Chapter 5 : Peter I Biography, Accomplishments, Facts, & Significance blog.quintoapp.com The Grand Embassy was a famous trip by Peter where he learned about life in Western Europe. Western Europe influenced Peter and westernization helped the influence of Russia have better education, such as science and technological advancements. What can we learn from the life of Peter? Simon Peter, also known as Cephas John 1: Peter was enthusiastic, strong-willed, impulsive, and, at times, brash. But for all his strengths, Peter had several failings in his life. Still, the Lord who chose him continued to mold him into exactly who He intended Peter to be. Simon was originally from Bethsaida John 1: He was married 1 Corinthians 9: Andrew immediately went to find his brother to bring him to Jesus. Upon meeting Simon, Jesus gave him a new name: Later, Jesus officially called Peter to follow Him, producing a miraculous catch of fish Luke 5: Immediately, Peter left everything behind to follow the Lord verse For the next three years, Peter lived as a disciple of the Lord Jesus. Being a natural-born leader, Peter became the de facto spokesman for the Twelve Matthew Only those three were present when Jesus raised the daughter of Jairus Mark 5: Peter and John were given the special task of preparing the final Passover meal Luke In several instances, Peter showed himself to be impetuous to the point of rashness. For example, it was Peter who left the boat to walk on the water to Jesus Matthew It was Peter who drew his sword and attacked the servant of the high priest John It was Peter who boasted that he would never forsake the Lord, even if everyone else did Matthew After His resurrection, Jesus specifically named Peter as one who needed to hear the good news Mark And, repeating the miracle of the large catch of fish, Jesus made a special point of forgiving and restoring Peter and re-commissioning him as an apostle John On the day of Pentecost, Peter was the main speaker to the crowd in Jerusalem Acts 2: Later, Peter healed a lame beggar Acts 3 and preached boldly before the Sanhedrin Acts 4. Peter preached on the day of Pentecost Acts 2. Then, he was present when the Samaritans received the Holy Spirit Acts 8. Finally, he was summoned to the home of the Roman centurion Cornelius, who also believed and received the Holy Spirit Acts Even as an apostle, Peter experienced some growing pains. At first, he had resisted taking the gospel to Cornelius, a Gentile. However, when some legalistic Jews arrived in Antioch, Peter, to appease them, withdrew from the Gentile Christians. Later in life, Peter spent time with John Mark 1 Peter 5: Peter wrote two inspired epistles, 1 and 2 Peter, between A. Here are a few lessons: Whether stepping out of a boat onto a tossing sea or stepping across the threshold of a Gentile home for the first time, Peter found courage in following Christ. After he had boasted of his fidelity, Peter fervently denied the Lord three times. It seemed that Peter had burned his bridges, but Jesus lovingly rebuilt them and restored Peter to service. Peter was a former failure, but, with Jesus, failure is not the end. Over and over, Peter needed correction, and the Lord gave it with patience, firmness, and love. The Master Teacher looks for students willing to learn. Jesus sees us as He intends us to be. Jesus uses unlikely heroes. Peter was a fisherman from Galilee, but Jesus called him to be a fisher of men Luke 5: Because Peter was willing to leave all he had to follow Jesus, God used him in great ways. Being with Jesus makes all the difference. Page 12

13 Chapter 6 : Peter the Great ( - ) Biography - Life of a Tsar of Russia Peter the Great was the youngest son of Alexey I and his second wife, Natalya Naryshkina. Alexey was succeeded by the invalid Fyodor III, Peter's eldest half-brother, who lasted on the throne only six years and died without surviving issue. The Apostle Peter is one of the great stories of a changed life in the Bible. Check out this timeline and biography of the life of Peter. He certainly became one of the boldest witnesses for the faith. His beginnings were certainly humble in origin. He was born about 1 B. Peter was originally named Simon. He was a Galilean fisherman and was the brother of Andrew. The brothers came from the village of Bethsaida John 1: He was also a follower of John the Baptist. Peter, like all humans before their calling, was a sinful man. In fact he was ashamed of his sinfulness in the presence of Jesus Christ Luke 5: Peter was perhaps the very first disciple that Jesus called along with His brother Andrew. Peter left his career as a fisherman to follow Jesus. Fishermen at that time were gruff, unkempt, vile, shabbily dressed, and often used vulgar language. They were full of vigor and had boisterous tempers. They must have been somewhat fearless too because some of the storms that came quickly upon the Sea of Galilee were fierce and furious. They often caught the fishermen by surprise and could easily capsize the 20 to 30 foot boats they used. Consider the fact that this meant that they left everything â all of their fishing boats, their fishing nets, and all the accessories that came with their trade. How many today would be willing to leave their own business to follow Someone that had simply asked them to follow Him? Peter was bold but often times in the wrong. Once he even rebuked the Lord and said that he was willing to die for Jesus even though at the arrest and trial of Jesus he denied Him three times Matt. Jesus loved the disciples and knew which of those whom would remain loyal to Him and those who would betray Him Judas Iscariot. Peter was an eyewitness to the many miracles that Jesus did and also witnessed the Shekhinah Glory along with John and James in the Transfiguration. After Christ tells the disciples about the end of the age Matt. This is the very last thing that Jesus tells them Acts 1: The designation of their being apostles was never used until after the Ascension of Christ Acts 1 because before then, they were still following Jesus. After Christ had ascended to the right hand of the Father and was seated there signifying His earthly ministry was done â except through the apostles He sent them forth to go to all ends of the earth to proclaim the gospel of the Kingdom of God. Peter was the first one to preach on the day of Pentecost after the coming of the Holy Spirit and he was the first one to proclaim Christ to a Gentile. He was one of the boldest apostles of all. The Gospel of Mark or of Peter? There is extremely reliable evidence through church tradition and early church historians that the Gospel of Mark is actually the gospel of Peter. Peter is said to have dictated his discipleship with Jesus to John Mark, who was a companion of his for many of the later years of his life. If you read the Gospel of Mark you can see the extremely fine details of what appears to be an eyewitness from the perspective of Peter. John Mark was not ever a disciple of Jesus and he was not an apostle. There is little doubt that the work of Mark and his gospel is actually the story of Peter who retold the story and then was written down by John Mark. Some of the events where Peter, John, and James who were often alone with Jesus, like the Transfiguration, are like a first-person retelling of the story. He was said to be crucified upside down because he felt unworthy to be crucified in the way that the Lord Jesus Christ had been. From an arrogant, cocky, man of thunder, he became a humble, willing, obedient servant of the Lord even to death. He rejoiced in that day of his death, knowing that he would be reunited with his beloved Savior. Peter will be one of only 12 apostles that will rule with Jesus Christ in the Kingdom of Heaven. The lowly fisherman became a mighty fisher of men â and one that changed and shaped the world forever and is still proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ through his gospel written by Mark, the book of Acts, and through the epistles of 1 and II Peter. Who is your favorite Bible character? Let us know in the comments! Page 13

14 Chapter 7 : The Life of Peter the Great The Life of Peter the Great [John Barrow] on blog.quintoapp.com *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. This is a pre historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Her father, Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst, belonged to the ruling German family of Anhalt, [4] but held the rank of a Prussian general in his capacity as governor of the city of Stettin. Two of her first cousins became Kings of Sweden: She once wrote to her correspondent Baron Grimm: Catherine first met Peter III at the age of Based on her writings, she found Peter detestable upon meeting him. She disliked his pale complexion and his fondness for alcohol at such a young age. Peter also still played with toy soldiers. Catherine later wrote that she stayed at one end of the castle, and Peter at the other. Historical accounts portray Johanna as a cold, abusive woman who loved gossip and court intrigues. The Empress Elizabeth knew the family well: She applied herself to learning the Russian language with zeal, rising at night and walking about her bedroom barefoot, repeating her lessons even though she mastered the language, she retained an accent. This practice led to a severe attack of pneumonia in March When she wrote her memoirs, she said she made up her mind when she came to Russia to do whatever was necessary, and to profess to believe whatever was required of her, to become qualified to wear the crown. Portrait of the Grand Duchess Ekaterina Alekseyevna around the time of her wedding, by George Christoph Grooth, Catherine recalled in her memoirs that as soon as she arrived in Russia, she fell ill with a pleuritis that almost killed her. She credited her survival to frequent bloodletting ; in a single day, she had four phlebotomies. When her situation looked desperate, her mother wanted her confessed by a Lutheran priest. Awaking from her delirium, however, Catherine said: Despite his objection, on 28 June the Russian Orthodox Church received Princess Sophie as a member with the new name Catherine Yekaterina or Ekaterina and the artificial patronymic Alekseyevna, daughter of Aleksey. On the following day, the formal betrothal took place. The long-planned dynastic marriage finally occurred on 21 August in Saint Petersburg. Sophia had turned 16; her father did not travel to Russia for the wedding. The bridegroom, known then as Peter von Holstein-Gottorp, had become Duke of Holstein-Gottorp located in the north-west of present-day [update] Germany near the border with Denmark in The newlyweds settled in the palace of Oranienbaum, which remained the residence of the "young court" for many years to come. He would announce trying drills in the morning to male servants, who later joined Catherine in her room to sing and dance until late hours. If you feel unhappy, raise your self above unhappiness, and so act that your happiness may be independent of all eventualities. The imperial couple moved into the new Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg. Peter supported Frederick II, however, eroding much of his support among the nobility. Peter ceased Russian operations against Prussia, and Frederick suggested the partition of Polish territories with Russia. Equestrian portrait of the Grand Duchess Yekaterina Alexeyevna In July, barely six months after becoming emperor, Peter took a holiday with his Holstein-born courtiers and relatives to Oranienbaum, leaving his wife in Saint Petersburg. On the night of 8 July OS: The next day, she left the palace and departed for the Ismailovsky regiment, where she delivered a speech asking the soldiers to protect her from her husband. Catherine then left with the regiment to go to the Semenovsky Barracks, where the clergy were waiting to ordain her as the sole occupant of the Russian throne. She had her husband arrested, and forced him to sign a document of abdication, leaving no one to dispute her accession to the throne. Ivan VI was assassinated during an attempt to free him as part of a failed coup against Catherine: Catherine, like Empress Elizabeth before her, had given strict instructions that he was to be killed in the event of any such attempt. Ivan was thought to be insane because of his years of solitary confinement, so might have made a poor emperor, even as a figurehead. Although Catherine did not descend from the Romanov dynasty, she had descended from the Rurik dynasty, which preceded the Romanovs. She succeeded her husband as empress regnant, following the precedent established when Catherine I succeeded her husband Peter the Great in In the s, a group of nobles connected with Paul Nikita Panin and others considered a new coup to depose Catherine and transfer the crown to Paul, whose power they envisaged restricting in a kind of constitutional Page 14