“Walking around barns,
I saw a foreign vessel. I asked Franz what
that vessel was. He said that it was an English boat, which moved with a help of sails both downwind and upwind. I was incredibly surprised”. All his victories will defy
traditions, expectations, common sense and sometimes
even laws of physics. They were in accordance
with words on a medal in honor of another
victory of his fleet: “Even impossible is possible”. The House of Romanov. Episode Three He was only ten when he
first came face to face with a furious crowd. Since
then he often succumbed to convulsions and nervous tic. They were the consequences of fear that he experienced during
the Streltsy (Archers) Revolt standing on a
blood-stained porch. Who could have known then that this scared boy would
soon destroy the old country to build a new one on its ruins? Chapter One. Peter I Alexeyevitch Peter was the youngest son
of Tsar Alexei Mikhaylovitch and the last in a
queue to the throne. When he was four his father died and
his elder brother Feodor ascended the throne. After
the death of Tsar Feodor the nobles announced
10-year old Peter to be Tsar bypassing his middle brother,
15-year old Ivan who was weak both mentally and physically. However, their elder sister, clever and power-greedy Princess Sophia used the Streltsy
Revolt to come to power. After Sophia removed him from
power, Peter and his mother, Tsarina Natalia moved to
Preobrazhenskoye estate near Moscow. When Peter turned 11, the
Poteshniy (Fun) Regiment was recruited for his amusement. Soldiers were Tsar’s
peers – the young nobles. Those Tsar’s games soon overtopped
an ordinary child’s play. Soon Peter demanded 16
cast-iron guns to be made for his Poteshniy Regiment. Tsar’s personal guard was established. At the same time, Tsar
started to learn the basics of the fleet management. The
Poteshnaya Wharf (Fun Shipyard) was opened on the Plescheyevo
Lake by Pereyaslavl. Tsar Peter differed
from other people a lot. He was 204 cm tall and towered
over average people of his times. His figure was disproportionate. He had long arms with huge hands, a small foot
of size 38, narrow shoulders – 48 cm across and a small head. His face was handsome, however it contorted when he
worried, the convulsions being the consequences of
his childhood traumas. Peter was incredibly
energetic since his childhood. He would be called hyperactive nowadays. It was hard for him
to stand still. Besides he was deprived of good teachers like the ones
his elder brothers used to have. Peter hadn’t even finished
the education course typical for the Russian princes. He made orthographical
mistakes all his life. Reading the letters of her restless son sent from the Plescheyevo
Lake Tsarina Natalia Kirillovna both cried and laughed. “This is a letter for my dearest mother, Tsarina and Great Duchess
Natalia Kirillovna from her sonny Petrushka who is
working constantly. Thanks to your prayers we’re all right. The lake is
not covered with ice anymore and all the vessels are being
repaired. We need ropes, though. I beg you to send me
ropes 700 fathoms long. Then we’ll be able to go on. With
that I ask for your blessing.” Since the early age, Peter
was interested in everything connected to the handwork. By 18, he knew 14 crafts. He studied military science,
fortifications and shipbuilding, learnt German and Dutch
in live communication with residents of the German Commune. The German or Kukuy Commune was
established in mid-17th century when Alexei Mikhaylovitch
ordered to move all the foreigners who refused to adopt the Orthodox
faith outside of the city. It was situated on the
right bank of the Yauza River by the Kukuy Stream. It
had its own infrastructure and management. Europeans of
different nationalities lived there. The majority was made up
of military men, doctors and craftsmen who came to
Russia to work on contracts. The German Commune was
close to Preobrazhenskoye, right behind the river.
Peter saw the spires of the Lutheran church and
heard sounds of the foreign attractive life every single day. Once he couldn’t sustain
his curiosity any longer and decided to visit the Commune.
He was already expected there. A Swiss Franz Lefort was
a brave officer, a handsome and strong man
experienced in war battles. His main occupation
was high-society life. He became the first
professional party-goer and made a brilliant career
during Tsar Peter’s reign. Besides, he became one
of those closest to Peter. It was Lefort who presented
his efficient valet Alexander Menshikov to
Tsar. The latter became Tsar’s future friend and
associate in all deeds. Lefort also showed Tsar
Anna Mons, a young daughter "of a local innkeeper; the
girl became his favorite. " Peter started to visit Kukuy
often. He learnt German language, how to dance with women,
drink wine and smoke a pipe. Naturally, his mother Tsarina
Natalia was very worried. A decision was taken to marry
Peter to help him settle down. A 19-year old Yevdokiya Lopukhina
was chosen as his fiance. She was an ideal of an Old
Moscow girl – tall, beautiful, calm and very religious.
However, in just two months after the wedding the new husband left for the Plescheyevo
Lake to his fun fleet. Meanwhile a revolt
was brewing in Moscow. Sophia was trying to cling to power. His trusted people were instigating the
archers to assassinate Peter. Preobrazhenskiy Strengthened protection. Peter was under great stress. Therefore, when one hot
August night messengers arrived from the archers to warn Tsar of
the future attempt on his life, Peter’s nerves failed. Peter ran out into the yard
dressed only in a shirt. He mounted his horse and
disappeared into black darkness alone, without any company. It turned out the next
morning that Tsar escaped to the Troitse-Sergiyev
monastery and ordered his family, his court and the entire
Poteshniy Regiment to go there too. Nobles and military men
started to move closer to Peter. By mid-September, the
revolt was suppressed. Sophia was locked in the
Novodevichiy monastery and Peter came to power.
The first war campaign became the first serious
challenge for the young ruler. At that time, Russia was
in the Anti-Turkish League, the so called Sacred Union
together with Austria and Poland. According to the treaty signed
by Sophia, it had to fight with the Osman Empire. However,
while Sophia used to send her troops mainly against the
vassals of the Osman Empire – the Crimean Tatars, Peter decided
to fight the Turks themselves. It meant going to the
Azov, the Turkish fortress in the Don’s mouth that blocked
the entrance to the Azov Sea. In this way, he wanted to
solve two issues at once – execute the terms of the agreement and win an outlet to sea for Russia. It was the first time when the
Russian army moved not on land but by rivers – the Volga and the Don, on specially built river vessels. Peter was the official
chief bomber of the campaign and had a rank of the
Senior Artillery Officer. The Azov Campaign
seemed to be the sequel of his fun war games at first. However, two attempts to storm the fort failed. Peter ordered to retreat. A real, not fun war
started with a defeat. All winter through a fleet was being built
near Voronezh in the Don’s upper reaches. In spring of 1696, the first Russian fleet consisting
of 2 large military ships, 23 galleys and 1500 smaller
vessels sailed down the Don to Azov. The ships cut the fortress from
the bay and its supply sources. Siege on land was accompanied
with intense artillery fire. The fort surrendered in a month. Russia won an outlet to the Azov Sea. Russian Navy successfully repulsed attempts
by the Turkish troops to break the blockade. Peter returned to Moscow as a winner. However, he needed allies
to continue the war with the Osman Empire. Peter sent a Great Embassy to Europe. It consisted of diplomats and noblemen. He went with them under
the name of Peter Mikhaylov, an officer of the
Preobrazhenskiy Regiment. A court steward Romodanovskiy
whom even Peter’s father Alexei Mikhaylovitch used
to trust, was to replace Tsar in Moscow. Romodanovskiy
got a title of Duke-Caesar. He was entrusted with
looking after Tsar’s family – Tsarina Yevdokiya and a
6-year old prince Alexei. He got the complete authority.
Everybody was in shock. However, nobody dared object
or demonstrate their surprise. Only many years afterwards
did a mechanic Andrei Nartov who taught Peter to turn
write in his memoires: “Nobody ever heard or read that
a ruler who ascended the throne would leave his crown and
scepter, entrust his close noblemen with ruling and leave
to travel distant states. It’s an unheard example but
it did happen so in Russia”. At last, the ruler saw
the world he dreamt of since his youth with his own eyes. He was fascinated by
Europe. To tell the truth, Peter was bored in picture galleries
and yawned openly during concerts. However, he was interested
in everything connected with natural sciences, technics,
navigations and industry. He wanted to try
everything with his own hands. In the Netherlands, “Officer
Peter Mikhaylov” got a job of a carpenter at a shipyard to
see all the stages of shipbuilding. The same thing
happened in England. The foreigners didn’t know what to think of that weird
guy – Tsar of the Moscovites. He wanted to be everywhere,
to try everything, to learn to do it himself and
to teach his people to do it. Everything interested him
– how the whales are caught, how the sick are treated,
how the paper is made. Peter took lessons from
an artillery master, visited lectures in
the anatomical theatre, persuaded different
craftsmen to go to Russia… and succeeded into talking
lots of them into moving. However, he failed in the
main goal of the Embassy – to find allies for the war with Turkey. The entire Europe was preparing for the
battle to redistribute the spheres of influence
after the death of childless Spanish king. They had no intentions to help the Russian Tsar in
his battle against the Turks. However, Peter managed to
find an ally against Sweden in Poland. It was the Polish
King and Prince Elector of Saxonia August the Strong, the most
handsome nobleman in Europe, an adventurer and a fun-lover. When meeting with Polish King Augustus
King Peter Alexeyevitch remained with him for dinner. During August the table noticed that served him
a plate of silver was not clean and bent her hand into the tube, tossed aside. Peter, thinking that the king before
him flaunts power, also bent plate put in front of yourself. Both strong rulers began to twirl on two plates
and would spoil the whole service if this joke did not finish the
Russian monarch following speech: Brother August, we bend silver considerably, only need to work hard how
would we bend Swedish iron. By starting a war with
Sweden Russia could get its ancient Novgorod
lands in the Baltics back, namely the eastern shore
of the Gulf of Finland. An outlet to the Baltic Sea
would mean an outlet to Europe. However, before engaging into a war
he had to restore order in his own country. While Peter
was at negotiations in Europe, he got bad news from Moscow. The Streltsy rebelled again. The rebellious regiments
were coming from Velikie Luki with a following proclamation:
“We shall go to Moscow, ruin the German Commune
and kill the Germans for the fact that Orthodoxy
stagnates because of them. We shall go to Moscow even if we die but we have to restore order.
We shan’t let Tsar enter Moscow and we must kill him for
his belief in the Germans”. Peter travelled 300 miles in
four weeks and came to Moscow. By that time Duke-Caesar
Romodanovskiy had already suppressed the revolt and
was investigating the causes. 130 archers were executed,
another 150 – whipped and sent to exile. After coming to the capital Peter ordered to carry out an additional
investigation and repeated search. He participated at interrogations
and tortures himself. A large-scale public execution was arranged. 800 archers were
beheaded on the Red Square, and a few hundreds were hung
on the walls of the Kremlin. Peter beheaded five rebels himself. Noblemen and foreign diplomats
were present at the execution. Around 2,000 archers were executed, another 800 whipped and sent to exile. From that moment on words
“old times” and “archers” became synonyms for “anarchy”
and “rebellion” for Peter. After the executions of the
archers, he started introducing changes in life – his
own and of his subjects. He forced his unloved wife
Yevdokiya to become a nun nd entrusted his sister Natalia
with bringing his 8-year old son Alexei up. He was openly
living with his lover Anna Mons that was called “the Kukuy Tsarina”. Patriarchal Moscow was
shocked but Peter didn’t care. Peter was cutting beards
of his noblemen himself. He signed an order
according to which everybody except for peasants was to
wear Western-style clothes and shave their faces. Only priests and those who had paid a special beard tax
could leave the beard. The tax amounted to 600 rubles a year
for noblemen and bureaucrats (3.5 mln in present-day money) and up to 30 rubles a year
for servants and cart drivers (180,000 in present-day money). Peter made his entire court
change the way of life. They had to dress their wives
and daughters in European clothes, teach them to dance and to carry
light conversations in public, brush teeth every
morning and drink coffee, refrain from eating
garlic and sour cabbage and eat the Dutch food
–potato, etc., etc. That year, 7208 from the
creation of the world, was to start on the 1st
of September, as usually. But it didn’t happen. Russia adopted calendar
that started from the Birth of Christ. Therefore, the next year was 1700. The monarch willed the following: “From this moment on stop
fooling people and consider that the New Year starts
on the 1st of January. In honor of the New Year
people shall make decorations from fir-trees, amuse
the kids, and sledge. Adults shall not drink and fight – there are enough other days for that”. The first New Year festivities
in the history of Russia culminated in a huge fire. Peter reacted to it indifferently. He didn’t like the old
Moscow. Plus he had no time – he was preparing a large-scale
campaign against the Swedes. A secret union with the
Polish king August II and the kings of Denmark
and Norway Frederick IV was already signed. Both
kings considered Peter to be their “younger brother”
and an additional force. Their competitor was a
18-year old, King Karl XII, a lover of hunting and parades
whom nobody took seriously. “He fell in his father’s high boots while he should have
been pulled out of them and flogged well”, joked
the Polish king August after besieging Riga
that was a part of Sweden. And the Danish king didn’t have
time to joke for on August 4 the Swedish fleet appeared
in Copenhagen’s haven. Young Karl made the Danishking go out
of the war with his unexpected blow. Soon August left the besieged Riga. Peter with his ill-taught
army was now face to face with the strongest army in Europe. This is how the Great
Northern War started. The Russian troops
besieged the fort of Narva. Artillery turned out to be weak
and firing at the fort didn’t bring any results. In two weeks main forces
of the Swedes approached the fort. On the eve of the battle
Peter appointed Duke de Croix a commander-in-chief and left for Novgorod. He didn’t see he iron Swedish infantry crushing the Russian
regiments on the field. His regiments that
included people from his old Poteshniy Regiment stood to
the last – knee-deep in blood. He didn’t see the recruited
foreign officers surrender. He didn’t see how soldier
were throwing Russian banners to Karl’s feet when
capitulating. At that time, Peter was already preparing
a new army for a new battle. For the first time in the
history of Russia Peter’s army became a regular one.
It means it was formed on the basis of duty. The
nobles were obliged to serve; peasants were to send one
soldier from every 20 households. The service was livelong. All soldiers underwent a
serious military training. The former Poteshniy
Regiment served as an example for the new ones – Preobrazhnskiy
and Semenovskiy Regiments. Soldiers received new
uniforms and weapons – rapiers and fuse guns instead
of old-fashioned harquebuses. In 10 years the Russian army
amounted to 200,000 soldiers of all kind of troops and
100,000 of irregular cavalry. Before Peter Russia never
had such a huge army, even during periods of
large-scale military conflicts. After the Narva catastrophe Peter
had to replenish the treasury. He took extraordinary measures
by increasing the production of money four times and decreasing
the share of silver in coins. The country was on the verge
of another national rebellion. Peter’s actions had been arousing
dissatisfaction for a long time. He made people wear heretic clothes and smoke the devil’s grass, and
he started a war in the north. People started to rumor that Tsar
came back from abroad changed. The real Tsar stayed
behind the sea in prison. Others openly called Tsar the
Antichrist. Peter didn’t care. He ordered to take the
church bells down to melt them into cannons and was about to confiscate the monasteries’ treasuries. He was adamant in collecting taxes,
sucking the country’s blood. Small and full-scaled rebellions rose here and there. Nevertheless,
Peter built two large ships that were the beginning of
the Russian military fleer. He opened metallurgical
plants at the Urals that soon started to supply the army
with high-quality artillery. Development of the state’s own artillery and full-scaled military
reform plus abrupt rise of military expenses soon brought yield. Russia started to fight as
an equal of Sweden and later – even winning over it. Russia
captured the forts of Marienburg, Noteburg, Nienschanz and Narva. The last victory played a great
part in Perter’s personal life as well. Just before the battle, it turned out that Tsar’s favoritt Anna
Mons with whom Peter lived for ten years like with a
wife was unfaithful to him. Passionate youth love was long gone. However, her betrayal
was painful for Peter. His loyal friend and
associate Menshikov helped him. He suspected Mons in
unfaithfulness before and prepared a reserve variant –
beautiful and efficient Martha Skavronskaya. She is either a Lett or a Belorussian from the prisoners
captured in Marienburg. Martha turned out to
be a woman Peter needed. In two years, Peter brought
her to Preobrazhenskoye as his fiance. Martha adopted Orthodoxy
and got a new name – Ekaterina Alexeyevna. She gave birth to Peter’s 11 children, became his official wife and
was crowned as an Empress. However, it’ll all happen later. And for now the endless
Northern War was still going on. The Russians were capturing
a fort after a fort on the Baltic shore. The entire Neva, from
its source to the mouth was in the Russian’s hands. Soon on the island
of Lust Elant, where the Neva flows
into the Gulf of Finland, a fort with six bastions was built. It was called the Fort
of the Holy Peter and Paul and it was the first Russian
port on the Baltic Sea. Soon the new capital of the Russian state
would emerge there – St.Petersburg. In six months, the first foreign ship would come to the
Petersburg’s port. In three more years, the first military
ship of the Baltic fleet was finished at the new Admiralty Wharf. The fourth sea, the Baltic
Sea appeared at Tsar’s ensign in the two-headed eagle’s
paws together with the maps of another three seas – the White,
the Caspian and the Azov Seas. The building of the new capital
on the Baltic Sea was expensive and difficult. The boggy lands were to be drained and fortified. Numerous dams and dykes had to be
built because of often floods. It took 20,000 logs to build just one dyke, that is 62,000 cubic meters of wood. (It would take 20 cargo wagons
per day to transport it in present times). About 40,000 people came to the
construction site every year. For the first time in the history
of Russia, prisoners were used and the first building
battalions were established. The working day lasted for 12-15 hours and even around the clock
during the white nights. In the course of 15 years
of construction no less than 100,000 people died of exhausting
labor in difficult conditions. Europe didn’t pay much
attention to Peter’s victories. They only saw that the
greedy Tsar of the Moscovites seized a piece of boggy shoreline
and was hurriedly settling on it. They were much more
interested in his enemy, Swedish king Karl XII. He
was fighting in the very heart of Europe against the
Polish king August. When August lost both his
troops and the Polish throne, Karl remembered about Russia
and went to finish Peter off. They met on June 27, 1709 on a huge field
in six versts from Poltava. On the eve of a decisive battle, both monarchs who were also
commanders-in-chief visited their troops. Karl promised to his soldiers that the next day they’d eat
at the Russian Tsar’s table. He prepared many dishes for us. Go where glory calls you! Tsar Peter addressed his troops as well. Fighters! A time has come that
will decide the fate of our Motherland. You shall not think that you’re fighting for Peter. You’re fighting for the state
Peter is entrusted with, for your own kin, for your Motherland, for our Orthodox faith and church! The Swedish forces that
took part in the battle amounted to 8,000 infantrymen,8,000
cavalrymen and 4 cannons. The forces of Russians
consisted of 25,000 infantrymen, 9,000 cavalrymen and 73 cannons. The battle lasted for 12 hours. The Swedish Army suffered
a crushing defeat. The Russians lost 1,300
people dead and 3,300 wounded. The Swedes lost over
8,000 dead and wounded, 4,000 prisoners taken during the battle and 17,000 more – during the retreat. From that moment on, the
Swedish army ceases being the strongest military force in Europe. The Swedes still had a strong fleet. However, the French, Austrian and British
courts were surprised to acknowledge: the state of wild Moscovites
that nobody took into any account before was turning
into a new great state. Moscow’s comfortable
life, little wooden houses, winding streets and apple orchids
were left behind Peter’s ship. St.-Petersbutg became
his favorite place. Peter affectionately called
the boggy and windy islands in the mouth of the Neva “the paradise”. He supersized the construction
of the Summer Palace personally. He drew the project up. He
even stipulated canalization that even the Versailles
lacked at that time. He enjoyed every day
spent in his “paradise” that smelled of the sea
and freshly sawn wood. To tell the truth, St.Petersburg
was anything but beautiful at that time. It was very dirty, wet and cold. However some streets were already paved. Every person coming to
St.-Petersburg on a cart was obliged to bring
three stones each weighting no less than 5 pound and those
on ships – 30 stones per vessel. Peter could already envision
future marble palaces and wide boulevards,
parks, granite seafronts… It was to become a new
capital of a new country. The new country needed
not only the new army. Everything had to change –
finances, management and legislation. Peter didn’t have a
plan of general reforms. He was proceeded step
by step, as required. He needed money for wars. Therefore, he initiated the tax reform. Peter introduced a fixed tax.
It was to be paid once a year by each person, i.e.
by each male subject, 74 kopeks from peasants (4,440
rubles in present-day money) and 1 ruble 20 kopeks from
city dwellers (7,200 rubles). Some categories of population
that didn’t pay taxes before, namely peasants of
the North and Siberia, residents of national
edges and the Volga region were made taxpayers now.
The budget grew trice. It became a financial base
for further transformations. Peter I understood his activities
on the throne as his duty, tireless service for
his Motherland. He demanded the same from all of his subject
despite of their ranks - from a peasant to a nobleman. To control the state apparatus Peter came up with an
idea of the fiscals – official supervisors of
everybody and everything. Bureaucrats caught
with bribes were cruelly and demonstratively punished. However, corruption and embezzlement
of funds were incredibly large-scaled. Out of 100 collected rubles no more
than 30 reached the treasury. The capitals of the first
embezzler of the state, Tsar’s friend and associate Menshikov
almost equaled the state’s budget. Peter lost all patience and was about
to introduce a strict anti-corruption law: “If a person steals enough
to buy a rope for that money, he should he hung”. However,
Menshikov talked him out of it. “You’ll stay without
any subjects, dear”. Peter participated in drawing
of statutes and instructions for all the new establishments,
from Academy of Sciences to the Admiralty. Plus hundreds
of decrees, instructions and orders of numerous issues. Peter’s rulings regulated
what the shoe leather was to be polished with, the
width of cloth to be weaved, how many per cents of profit
should a merchant take, how should stoves be made, what
should wheat be cropped with, how should people get married,
how should the sick be treated, in which coffins should the dead
be buried, how many time a week should saunas be heated
and so on, so forth. Each instruction or a decree
ended with a threat of punishment ranging from a money fine
(for talking in a church) to death penalty (for
forgery and treason). Peter was sure: his
subject were like children. They couldn’t live without
his fatherly interference and instructions. He didn’t ask the subjects their opinion, of course. He wasn’t interested
in thoughts and intentions of his son Alexei too. He decided where, how and with whom his
son should live, himself. Alexei, the son of Peter’s
first wife Yevdokiya Lopukhina, lost his mother when he was 8. His aunt Princess Natalia brought him up. Peter was trying to involve him in state affairs from
his early years. He used to take him to war campaigns since her was 14, gave his different errands
to run, but to no avail. Peter worried a lot
because of it. His only heir had no wish to develop his undertakings, supported old traditions and secretly loathed the reforms. Peter was extremely anxious about it. Secret enemies of Peter
advised Alexei to flee abroad – to Austria. By doing it he
signed his death verdict. The Russian intelligence
service soon found the fugitive, lured him of his hiding place and brought to his father to be judged. Prince was mortally
scared and confessed. Under tortures he named his accomplices and signed an abdication
from the throne. In the course of
investigation, it became clear: Alexei realized that
he was an unwanted heir and he was afraid that Peter
and his new wife Ekaterina will kill him. The Prince was locked in a cell of the Petropavlovskaya fortress On June 25, 1718 a court
consisting of senators, generals and hierarchs of the
church accused the Prince of treason and sentenced him to death. The next day Alexei was
found dead in his cell. The official cause of death
was an apoplectic stroke. The real circumstances of
his death are still unknown. The only thing that is
known is that the Prince was cruelly tortured
during the interrogations. The mourning wasn’t announced. The next day after the death
of his son Peter celebrated another anniversary
of the Poltava Battle. However, his close ones could see
how hard it was for him. He complained in one of his letters: “I suffer for the entire
Motherland wishing it good. My enemies play dirty tricks
on me. It’s hard for people to believe in my innocence as
they don’t know the circumstances. God sees the truth, though”, At that time Peter realized with
merciless clarity how unstable and fragile his undertakings were. If he died everything would collapse. He was ill for a long
time, and seriously ill. According to the data of
his doctor Blumentrost, by 44 Peter had the following
diseases: chronic bronchitis, chronic colitis, chronic
renal failure, urolithiasis, chronic hepatitis,
and hypertonia. Peter didn’t stick to the diet and prohibition
to drink alcohol. His main treatments were
lavages with sulphuric and hydrochloric waters
at mineral resorts. Peter realized that he had to hurry. First he had to put an
end to a long Northern War. However even after the death of Karl XII Sweden didn’t want to sign
a peace treaty and let Russia have the Baltic shores
that it invaded. Russia had to put an end to Sweden’s dominance at the sea too. In the first large sea battle
with the Swedes by Gangut the Russians won. In six years in a battle of Grengam the Swedish fleet bore great loses. Then Sweden concluded a
military union with England. The now united Anglo-Swedish
squadron of General Norris approached Revel, the
base of the Baltic fleet, but without any success. The Niestadt Peace was
signed in August of 1721. Sweden acknowledged Russia’s
rights to Ingermanland (Leningrad region now) Liftland
(Latvia and a part of Estonia), Estland (the northern part of Estonia) and a part of Karelia.
Russia got its outlet to the Baltic Sea back and with it – a status of a great European nation. Senate handed over to Peter
a request to accept a title of “The Father of the
Nation, Peter the Great, Emperor of all Russia”.
From that moment on, the Russia kingdom
ceased to exist. The Russian Empire was born in its place. Peter had four more years to live. Almost all his children
died in their young years. His heir Peter Petrovitch
only lived to three years. He had two adult daughters
– Anna and Elizabeth and a grandson – little
Peter Alexeyevitch, a son of Prince Alexei. Peter didn’t want to make him a heir. He was afraid that
followers of old traditions would come to power together with him. In that situation,
Peter decided to change the ancient traditions of
succession to the throne. He issued a decree on
appointing the next rulers by will of the present ruler:
“Let the ruler be always free to decide whom to give the inheritance”. In spring of 1724 in the
Cathedral of Assumption in the Kremlin Peter solemnly
crowned his wife Ekaterina to be the Empress. Did it
mean that he intended to leave the throne to her? No orders
on that matter were given. Soon after the coronation,
his attitude towards his wife changed dramatically. Peter got to know that Ekaterina
was unfaithful to him. Her lover was the younger brother of his former favorite
Anna Mons, a 36-year old handsome man named Vilim. It was a hard blow. Ekaterina was Peter’s
only love, the only person who could subdue his
uncontrolled outbursts of anger. A diplomat of Holstein Count
Genning Fridrich Bassevitch who witnessed those scenes
quite a few times, remembered: “He used to have fitss when a
dark thought would dawn on him that somebody wants to take his life. Such fits were a nightmare
for his closest ones. They knew a fit was approaching
when his mouth started shaking. They would inform Empress about it. She would start talking to him. The sound of her voice calmed him down. Then she used to make him sit down and take his head in her hands,
as if brushing it slightly. It acted like magic – he would
fall asleep in a matter of minutes. Not to disturb
him she would hold his head on her chest and sit without
moving for two to three hours. After that he would wake up
being fresh and invigorated”. Peter was never a
faithful husband. While in war campaigns, he would have sex with servants
and wives of his soldiers. He even paid them a fixed amount
– 1 ducat for a night of love. Court ladies of all ranks couldn’t
escape Tsar’s attention too. “They used to be slaves
and they became goddesses” – that was the logo of noble
ladies and girls of Peter’s times. Abrupt and often forced
change of way of life, behavior and clothes proved to be a
too serious stress for many. Traditional norms of
women’s morality failed. Tsar gave a bad example himself
as he openly betrayed his wife with several lovers at once. They were the
camer-maid of honor Maria Hamilton, Countess
Avdotya Chernishova, born Rzhevskaya, Countess Maria
Rumyantseva, born Matveyeva, a Wallachian Countess Maria Kantemir, Elizaveta Sinyavskaya,
born Duchess Lyubomirskaya – all of them slept with
Peter with knowledge of their fathers or husbands. Ekaterina put up with
all affairs of her husband without ever reproaching him. But Peter couldn’t tolerate it. Handsome Vilim was arrested.
Not to disgrace Tsarina he was accused of taking bribes. The investigation was very fast. In five days Mons got his
verdict, and three days later he was beheaded. The body was left on an scaffold for several days. The head was preserved in alcohol in a big jar and on
Peter’s order brought into Ekaterina’s chambers. Emperor and Empress didn’t
talk for about a year. They neither dined
or slept together. In autumn of 1724 Peter’s health deteriorated seriously. Despite his doctor’s
prohibitions, he continued leading his usual way of life, including
sailing in freezing wind. In the result of that his
chronic renal failure aggravated. On January 16, Peter
couldn’t get up from his bed. He ordered to call for Empress. They talked for three hours. All that time Ekaterina
was kneeling beside him. At last, they made peace
and forgave each other. On January 17 pain became so
strong that it was impossible to lessen it with any pills. Emperor’s shouts were heard all over the palace. Ekaterina wouldn’t leave his bed. On January 22 in between the
fits Peter confessed his sins. On January 27 he asked for
a desk to write his will. He didn’t know that in
the next room his generals and senators were
discussing who would sit on a still occupied throne. For many of them it was a question
of life and death. One half – noblemen, Dukes Dolgorukiy,
Golitsin and Repnin were for the 10-year old Peter
Alexeyevitch, a son of Prince Alexei. The other half, the new
noblemen, former nobodies like Menshikov and Tolstoy,
participated in investigation on Prince Alexei and were afraid
that a son might revenge for his father. They wanted Tsar’s wife
to ascend the throne. Peter only wrote two
words: “Give everything to”… and fainted. The agony started. At 4 o’clock the Senate decided
to give the throne to Ekaterina. At that time she was still
by the bedside of dying Peter. At 5.10 a.m. Peter
died in her arms. He was 53. A woman became an official
ruler of the country. People were surprised, but not too much. Their limit of surprises
during the reign of Peter I came to an end. Besides, they felt sympathy for Ekaterina. Her life looked like a fairy
tale about an ordinary girl, either a laundress or a cook
whom a Tsar fell in love with and made her a tsarina. Chapter Two. Ekaterina I Alexeyevna Empress didn’t know
how to rule the state. She couldn’t even write. After three months of exercises, the only thing that she learnt
was how to sign state documents. In this way, she signed
the decree on establishment of the Academy of Sciences that
Peter didn’t have time to issue, and a decree on arranging
Bering’s expedition. During her short reign
that lasted for little more than two years, Ekaterina
was partying madly. She as if wanted to forget
something, to drown her fear or grief in a bottle. The Empress drank wine by glasses, changed lovers and danced
all nights long at the balls. The approximate agenda of
the Empress looked like this: she woke up at 16.00, had
a hearty dinner at 20.00, walked around the Summer
Garden at night and got into bed no earlier than at 10 in the morning. The main person at the
court was the Serene Count Alexander Danilovitch
Menshikov. Some time ago, he predetermined her fate
by presenting her to Peter. Then he put her on the throne. Later he assumed the reins of government
of the huge Empire. To conceal it the Higher
Secret Council was established. It was formally an advisory
organ but in reality it was a real government
to which both Senate and all the departments reported to. Ekaterina didn’t come to its
sittings – she had no time. She listened to reports of the
Council members in her chambers once but only for half an hour. After that, she got headache. Disorderly lifestyle of the
Empress soon undermined her health. She gained a lot of weigh
and a number of diseases – from renal failure
to tachycardia. Everybody could see that Ekaterina wouldn’t live for long. Menshikov made the Empress sign a will according to which Prince
Peter Alexeyevitch would inherit the throne on condition of
marrying Menshikov’s daughter. In two months, on May
6, 1727 Ekaterina I died. People remembered her as
a kind and merry tsarina, a loyal companion of Peter the Great. Many people thought that
without the iron hand of the first Emperor
Russia will step back and return to the outskirts of Europe. However, the inertia of
transformations initiated by Peter was so great that it
continued even after his death. Palaces were built on the
shores of the cold sea. Gardens were planted and
wide boulevards were paved. For the first time in
Russia they were lighted with oil lamps at nights. The Russian ships armed with cannons stood in
the roads of the Baltic cities. A printed newspaper “Vedomosty”
was regularly published. Its circulation amounted
to 200-4000 copies. Merchants’ caravans sailed
from Petersburg to Moscow along the newly dug-out
Verkhnevolzhskiy channel. In Moscow and Petersburg
higher artillery, medical and navigational institutes were opened, the Academy of Sciences was established. At the Urals nine metallurgical
plants smelted 7 mln pounds of cast iron and 200000
pounds of copper annually. Armories, sails, textile
factories worked all over Russia. At those times the Russian army became and still remains one of
the strongest in Europe. The state machine elaborated by
Peter proved to be strong enough to endure the period
of social stagnation. In the next 40 years, no person on the Russian throne
was as firm as Peter the Great.
