197 Peter the Great
Learning Objective
- Describe Peter the Great’s early life
Key Points
- Peter the Great of the House of Romanov ruled the Tsardom of Russia and later the Russian Empire from 1682 until his death. The Romanovs took over Russia in 1613, and the first decades of their reign were marked by attempts to restore peace, both internally and with Russia’s rivals.
- After Alexis I’s (Peter’s father) death, a power struggle between the Miloslavsky family (of Alexis’s first wife) and the Naryshkin family (of Alexis’s second wife) ensued. Eventually, Peter’s half-brother, Ivan V, and ten-year-old Peter became co-tsars, with Sophia Alekseyevna, one of Alexis’s daughters from his first marriage, acting as regent.
- Sophia was eventually overthrown, with Peter I and Ivan V continuing to act as co-tsars, yet power was exercised mostly by Peter’s mother. It was only when Nataliya died in 1694 that Peter became an independent sovereign, and the sole ruler after Ivan’s death in 1696.
- Peter implemented sweeping reforms aimed at modernizing Russia. Heavily influenced by his advisers from Western Europe, he reorganized the Russian army along modern lines and dreamed of making Russia a maritime power.
- Knowing that Russia could not face the Ottoman Empire alone, in 1697 Peter traveled incognito to Europe with the so-called Grand Embassy to seek the aid of the European monarchs. The mission failed, as Europe was at the time preoccupied with the question of the Spanish succession.
- The European trip, although politically a failure, exposed Peter to Western European artists, scientists, craftsmen, and noble families. This broadened his intellectual horizons and convinced him that Russia should follow Western Europe in certain respects.
Terms
boyars
Members of the highest rank of the feudal Bulgarian, Moscovian, Ruthenian (Ukraine and Belarus), Wallachian, and Moldavian aristocracies, second only to the ruling princes (or tsars), from the 10th century to the 17th century.
Grand Embassy
A Russian diplomatic mission sent to Western Europe in 1697–1698 by Peter the Great. The goal of this mission was to strengthen and broaden the Holy League, Russia’s alliance with a number of European countries against the Ottoman Empire in its struggle for the northern coastline of the Black Sea.
serfdom
The status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism. It was a condition of bondage that developed primarily during the High Middle Ages in Europe and lasted in some countries until the mid-19th century.
Political Background
Peter the Great of the House of Romanov (1672–1725) ruled the Tsardom of Russia and later the Russian Empire from 1682 until his death, jointly ruling before 1696 with his elder half-brother, Ivan V. The Romanovs took over Russia in 1613, and the first decades of their reign were marked by attempts to restore peace, both internally and with Russia’s rivals, most notably Poland and Sweden.
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