| Peter the Great or Peter I (1672-1725), czar of Russia (1682-1725), whose military campaigns and modernization efforts transformed Russia into an empire to be reckoned with in European affairs. Peter was born in Moscow on June 9, 1672, the son of Czar Alexis I Mikhailovich. In early childhood he was taught by private tutors; later, with the aid of palace masters and various foreigners living in Moscow, he taught himself technical and mechanical arts, especially in relation to military and naval science. From 1682 to 1689, under the regency of his half sister Sophia Alekseyevna, Peter shared the throne with his older half brother Ivan V, but in 1689 Peter's partisans at court overthrew Sophia and installed him as sole authority (formally, Ivan continued to reign until his death). During Peter's reign Russia emerged as a great European power, in part because of his introduction of many Western European scientific, technological, cultural, and political conceptions and practices. In 1696, after creating a river fleet, the first Russian navy, Peter captured from the Turks the important fortress of Azov, which commanded the Sea of Azov and gave Russia access to the Black Sea. The following year, in an effort to secure allies among the European powers against the Turks and the Swedes and in order to acquaint himself with Western technology, Peter accompanied a diplomatic mission to the principal capitals of Western Europe. During his travels he induced about 900 artisans, craftsmen, technical advisers, and other experts to emigrate to Russia. Later he sent many young Russians abroad to learn Western crafts and trades. On his return to Moscow in 1698 Peter, determined to gain control of the eastern part of the Baltic Sea, began military preparations for an attack on Sweden. Although the Great Northern War (1700-21) that ensued began inauspiciously for him, with a devastating setback at Narva (1700), he went on to win one of the greatest military victories in Russian history at the Battle of Poltava in 1709. By the terms of the Treaty of Nystadt (1721) that concluded the war, Russia gained control of a considerable area of the Baltic littoral, later called the Baltic Provinces. In 1703, during the war, Peter founded Saint Petersburg as a "window to Europe" and made it his capital. Peter was proclaimed emperor in 1721 and thus established the Russian Empire. He introduced such internal reforms as abolition of the power of the boyars, or aristocrats, and the subordination of those nobles and of the church to the throne; the encouragement of industry, trade, and education; and the reorganization of the administrative apparatus of the state to make it more modern and efficient. During Peter's reign the Russian alphabet was simplified, Arabic numerals were introduced, the first newspaper in the Russian language was published, schools were founded, and an Academy of Sciences was established. Under Peter, Russia became a regimented state. His police-state philosophy was based on the conviction that, just as he spent his life unceasingly in service for the state, so his subjects, whose welfare was his object, should discharge their obligation to the state. Both his reforms and his swift, often cruel, reprisals for infractions of his regulations made indelible impressions upon Russian life. He died in St. Petersburg on February 8, 1725. Source: Microsoft Encarta 97 |