Peter the First biography
Peter the Great the Great (Born in 1672 - died in 1725) The first Russian emperor, known for his reforms of public administration.
1725, January 27 - The Emperor's Palace in St. Petersburg was surrounded by reinforced guards. The first Russian emperor Peter 1 was dying in terrible agony. For the last 10 days, convulsions were replaced by deep fainting and delirium, and in those minutes when Peter came to himself, he screamed terribly from unbearable pain. During the last week, in short-term moments of relief, Peter received Holy Communion three times. By his decree, all arrested debtors were released from prisons and their debts were covered from the royal sums. In all churches, including those of other religions, prayers were served for him. Relief did not come, and on January 28, at the beginning of the sixth morning, the king died.
Peter was the son of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and his second wife Natalia Kirillovna Naryshkina. Peter was born on May 30, 1672. From his first marriage with Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya, the tsar had 13 children, but only two of the sons survived - Fedor and Ivan. After the death of Alexei Mikhailovich in 1676, Peter's upbringing was looked after by his elder brother, Tsar Fyodor, who was his godfather. For young Peter, he chose Nikita Zotov as a mentor, thanks to whose influence he became addicted to books, especially to historical works. Nikita told the young prince a lot about the past of the Fatherland, about the glorious deeds of his ancestors. The real idol for Peter was Tsar Ivan the Terrible. Subsequently, Peter spoke of his reign: “This sovereign is my predecessor and model; I have always imagined him as a model of my government in civil and military affairs,but did not have time in that as far as he did. Fools only those who do not know the circumstances of his time, the properties of his people and the greatness of his merits, call him a tormentor."
After the death of the 22-year-old Tsar Fedor in 1682, the struggle for the royal throne of two families - the Miloslavsky and the Naryshkins - sharply intensified. The contender for the kingdom from the Miloslavskys was Ivan in poor health, from the Naryshkins - healthy, but younger Peter. At the instigation of the Naryshkins, the patriarch proclaimed Peter the king. But the Miloslavskys were not going to humble themselves and they provoked a streltsy riot, during which many people close to the Naryshkins died. This made an indelible impression on Peter, had an impact on his mental health and worldview. Throughout his life, he harbored hatred for the archers and for the entire family of Miloslavsky.
The result of the rebellion was a political compromise: both Ivan and Peter were elevated to the throne, and Princess Sophia, the smart and ambitious daughter of Alexei Mikhailovich from his first marriage, became regent (ruler) with them. Peter and his mother did not play any role in the life of the state. They ended up in a kind of exile in the village of Preobrazhenskoye. Peter had to take part only in the embassy ceremonies in the Kremlin. There, in Preobrazhenskoe, the military "fun" of the young tsar began. Under the leadership of the Scotsman Menezius, from Peter's peers, as a rule, representatives of noble families, they recruited a children's regiment, from which in the early 90s. two guards regiments grew up - Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky. The future field marshal M. M. Golitsyn, and the descendant of a noble family Buturlin, and the son of a groom, and in the future a friend and associate of Peter, A. D. Menshikov, served in them. The tsar himself served here, starting with a drummer. The officers in the regiments were usually foreigners.
In general, foreigners who lived near Preobrazhensky in the German Quarter (Kukui), who came to the country under Tsar Alexei, seekers of happiness and ranks, masters, experts in military affairs, played a huge role in the Tsar's life. They taught him shipbuilding, military science, and besides that, drinking strong drinks, smoking, wearing foreign dresses. From them, one might say, he absorbed a disdain for everything Russian. The Swiss F. Lefort became closer to Peter.
In the summer of 1689, the struggle with the Miloslavskys intensified. Tsarevna Sophia, realizing that soon Peter would push back the sick Ivan and take the reign into his own hands, began to incite the archers led by Shaklovity to rebellion. However, this plan failed: the archers themselves betrayed Pyotr Shaklovity, and he, having named many of his like-minded people under torture, was executed along with them. Sophia was imprisoned in the Novodevichy Convent. This was the beginning of his sole rule. Ivan's reign was nominal, and after his death in 1696, Peter became an autocrat.
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1697 - the tsar, as part of the Great Embassy of fifty people, under the guise of a sergeant of the Preobrazhensky Regiment, Peter Mikhailov, went abroad. The purpose of the trip is an alliance against the Turks. In Holland and England, working as a carpenter in shipyards, Peter was engaged in the development of shipbuilding. On the way back, in Vienna, he was caught by the news of a new revolt of the archers. The tsar hastened to Russia, but on the way he received news that the revolt had been suppressed, having executed 57 ringleaders, and 4000 archers had been exiled. Upon his return, considering that Miloslavsky's "seed" had not been destroyed, Peter gave the order to resume the investigation. The exiled archers were returned to Moscow. Peter personally took part in torture and executions. He chopped off the heads of the archers with his own hands, forcing those around him and courtiers to do it.
Many archers were executed in a new way - they were driven on the wheel. Peter's vengeance towards the Miloslavskys was boundless. He gave the order to dig out the coffin with Miloslavsky's body, bring it on pigs to the place of execution and put it near the block so that the blood of the executed would flow onto the remains of Miloslavsky. In total, more than 1000 archers were executed. Their bodies were thrown into a pit where the corpses of animals were thrown. 195 archers were hanged at the gates of the Novodevichy Convent, and three - near the very windows of Sophia, and for five months the corpses hung at the place of execution. In this terrible case, and in many others, the tsar surpassed his idol Ivan the Terrible in cruelty.
At the same time, Peter embarked on reforms, intending to transform Russia along the Western European model, to make the country an absolutist police state. He wanted everything at once. With his reforms, Peter 1 put Russia on its hind legs, but how many people went to the rack, to the chopping block, to the gallows! How many were beaten, tortured … It all started with cultural innovations. It became obligatory for everyone, with the exception of peasants and clergy, to wear foreign dresses, the army was dressed up in uniforms according to the European model, and everyone, again, except for the peasants and clergy, had to shave their beards, while in Preobrazhensky the tsar cut off beards with his own hands boyars. 1705 - a tax was introduced on beards: from servicemen and clerks, merchants and townspeople, 60 rubles each. per person per year; from rich merchants living room hundreds - 100 rubles each; from people of lower rank,boyar people, coachmen - 30 rubles each; from peasants - 2 money each time they entered the city or left it.
We have introduced other innovations as well. They encouraged the teaching of crafts, created numerous workshops, sent young men from noble families to study abroad, reorganized the city administration, carried out a reform of the calendar, established the Order of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called, and opened the Navigation School. To strengthen the centralization of state administration, instead of orders, boards and the Senate were created. All these transformations were carried out by violent methods. A special place was occupied by the relationship between the king and the clergy. Day after day he launched an attack on the independence of the church. After the death of his mother, the king no longer took part in religious processions. The patriarch was no longer an adviser to Peter, he was expelled from the tsarist Duma, and after his death in 1700, the administration of the church was transferred to a specially created Synod.
And all these and other transformations were superimposed on the unbridled temper of the king. According to the historian Valishevsky: “In everything that Peter did, he brought a lot of impetuosity, a lot of personal rudeness, and especially, a lot of addiction. He beat right and left. And therefore, correcting, he spoiled everything. Peter's rage, reaching the point of rage, his mockery of people knew no restraint. He could pounce on Generalissimo Shein with savage abuse, and inflict serious wounds on Romodanovsky and Zotov, people who were trying to calm him down: one had his fingers severed, the other had wounds on his head; could beat his friend Menshikov for not taking off his sword at the assembly during the dance; could kill a servant with a stick for taking off his hat too slowly; he could give an order to force the 80-year-old boyar M. Golovin naked,in a clown's cap for a whole hour to sit on the Neva ice because he refused, dressed as a devil, to participate in a clownish procession. After that, Golovin fell ill and died quickly. This is how Peter behaved not only at home: in the Copenhagen museum, the tsar mutilated a mummy, for the fact that he was refused to sell it for the Cabinet of Curiosities. And there are many examples of this kind.
The Peter's era was a time of constant wars. The Azov campaigns in 1695–1696, the Northern War of 1700–1721, the Prut campaign in 1711, the campaign to the Caspian in 1722. All this required a huge number of people and money. A huge army and navy were created. Recruits were often brought to cities in chains. Many lands were depopulated. In general, during the reign of Peter 1, Russia lost almost a third of its population. It was forbidden to cut down large trees throughout the state, and people were executed for cutting oak. For the maintenance of the army, new levies were introduced: recruit, dragoon, ship, courtyard and stamp paper. New rent was introduced: for fishing, home baths, mills, inns. The sale of salt and tobacco passed into the hands of the treasury. Even the oak coffins were transferred to the treasury and then sold at four more. But there was still not enough money.
The difficult character of the king was reflected in his family life. Even at the age of 16, his mother, in order to discourage him from the German settlement, married him to Evdokia Lopukhina, whom he never loved. Evdokia bore him two sons: Alexander, who died in infancy, and Alexei. After the death of Natalya Kirillovna, relations between the spouses sharply deteriorated. The tsar even wanted to execute his wife, but limited himself to only forcibly tonsuring her as a nun at the Intercession Monastery in Suzdal. The 26-year-old queen was not given a penny for maintenance, and she had to ask her relatives for money. At the same time, the tsar in the German settlement had two mistresses: the daughter of the silversmith Betticher and the daughter of the wine merchant Mons, Anna, who became the first titled favorite of Peter. He presented her with palaces, estates,but when her love affair with the Saxon envoy Keyserling surfaced, the vengeful king took almost everything donated, and even kept her in prison for some time.
A vindictive, but not inconsolable lover, he quickly found a replacement for her. Among his favorites were at one time and Anisya Tolstaya, and Varvara Arsenyeva, and a number of other representatives of noble families. Often the choice of Peter stopped at simple maids. 1703 - another woman appeared who played a special role in the life of Peter - Marta Skavronskaya, who later became the Tsar's wife under the name of Ekaterina Alekseevna. After the occupation of Marienburg by the Russian army, she was a servant and mistress of Field Marshal B. Sheremetev, then A. Menshikov, who introduced her to Peter. Martha converted to Orthodoxy, gave birth to Peter's three daughters and a son, Peter Petrovich, who died in 1719. But only in 1724 the tsar crowned her. At the same time, a scandal erupted: Peter became aware of the love affair between Catherine and Willem Mons, the brother of the former favorite. Mons was executedand his head in a jar of alcohol, by order of Peter, was in his wife's bedroom for several days.
Against the background of these events, the tragedy of Peter's son Alexei stands out clearly. His fear of his father reached the point that, on the advice of his friends, he even wanted to give up the inheritance. The king saw a conspiracy in this and gave the order to put his son in a monastery. The prince fled and hid with his mistress, first in Vienna, and then in Naples. But they were found and lured to Russia. Peter promised his son forgiveness if he would give out the names of his accomplices. But instead of forgiveness, the tsar sent him to the casemate of the Peter and Paul Fortress and ordered an investigation to begin. During the week Alexei was tortured 5 times. The father himself took part in this. To end the torment, Alexey slandered himself: he wanted to conquer the throne with the help of the troops of the Austrian emperor. 1718, June 24 - the court, consisting of 127 people, unanimously sentenced the tsarevich to death. The choice of execution was left to Peter's discretion. About,Little is known how Alexei died: either from poison, or from strangulation, or they cut off his head, or he died under torture.
And the participants in the investigation were awarded, titles, villages. The next day the tsar celebrated the ninth anniversary of the Battle of Poltava magnificently.
With the end of the Northern War in 1721, Russia was proclaimed an empire, and the Senate honored Peter with the titles "Father of the Fatherland", "Emperor" and "Great".
By the age of 50, Peter's stormy life gave him a bouquet of diseases, but most of all he suffered from uremia. Mineral waters did not help either. Peter spent the last three months mostly in bed, although he took part in the festivities on the days of relief. By mid-January, the attacks of the disease became more frequent. Kidney dysfunction has resulted in a blockage of the urinary tract. The operation carried out gave nothing. Blood poisoning began. The question of succession to the throne arose sharply, because by that time the sons of Peter were not alive. On January 27, Peter wanted to write a decree on the succession to the throne. He was given a piece of paper, but he was able to write only two words: "Give everything …" In addition, he lost his speech. The next day he died in terrible agony. His body remained unburied for forty days. They put him on the velvet,a gold-embroidered bed in the palace hall, upholstered with carpets that Peter received as a gift from Louis XV during his stay in Paris. His wife Ekaterina Alekseevna was proclaimed empress.
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