According to various opinion polls, Peter I remains one of the most popular historical figures. He is still glorified by sculptors, poets compose odes to him, politicians speak enthusiastically about him.

But did it match? a real man Pyotr Alekseevich Romanov to the image that, through the efforts of writers and filmmakers, was introduced into our consciousness?

Frame from the film "Peter the Great" based on the novel by A. N. Tolstoy ("Lenfilm", 1937 - 1938, directed by Vladimir Petrov,
in the role of Peter - Nikolai Simonov, in the role of Menshikov - Mikhail Zharov):

Let's start with the fact that the majority represents Peter I absolutely not the way he really was.

According to the films, Peter is a huge man with a heroic physique and the same health.
In fact, with a height of 2 meters 4 centimeters (really huge in those days, and very impressive in our times), he was incredibly thin, with narrow shoulders and torso, a disproportionately small head and leg size (about 37 sizes, and this despite such and such height!), with long arms and spidery fingers. In general, an absurd, awkward, clumsy figure, a freak of a freak.

The clothes of Peter I, which have survived to this day in museums, are so small that there can be no talk of any heroic physique. In addition, Peter suffered from nervous attacks, probably of an epileptic nature, he was constantly ill, he never parted with a first-aid kit with a lot of medicines that he took daily.

Do not trust the court portrait painters and sculptors of Peter.
For example, a well-known researcher of the Petrine era, historian E. F. Shmurlo (1853 - 1934) describes his impression of the famous bust of Peter I by B. F. Rastrelli:

"Full of spiritual power, unyielding will, an imperious look, intense thought make this bust related to Michelangelo's Moses. This is a truly formidable king, capable of causing awe, but at the same time majestic, noble."

Otdako more accurately conveys the appearance of Peter plaster mask taken from his face in 1718 the father of the great architect - B. K. Rastrelli when the king was investigating the betrayal of Tsarevich Alexei.

This is how the artist describes it A. N. Benois (1870 - 1960):“Peter’s face became at that time gloomy, directly terrifying with its menacingness. One can imagine what impression this terrible head, placed on a giant body, must have produced, while still shifting eyes and terrible convulsions that turned this face into a monstrously fantastic image.

Of course, the real appearance of Peter I was completely different from what appears before us on his formal portraits.
For example, these:

Portrait of Peter I (1698) by a German artist
Gottfried Kneller (1648 - 1723)

Portrait of Peter I with the signs of the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called (1717)
works by the French painter Jean-Marc Nattier (1685 - 1766)

Please note that between the writing of this portrait and the manufacture of the lifetime mask of Peter
Rastrelli has only been a year. What, are they similar?

The most popular at present and highly romanticized
according to the time of creation (1838) portrait of Peter I
works by French artist Paul Delaroche (1797 - 1856)

Trying to be objective, I cannot fail to note that monument to Peter I , works of the sculptor Mikhail Shemyakin , made by him in the USA and installed in the Peter and Paul Fortress in 1991 , also does not correspond much to the real image of the first Russian emperor, although, quite possibly, the sculptor sought to embody the same "monstrously fantastic image" about which Benoit spoke.

Yes, Peter's face was made from his death wax mask (cast by B. K. Rastrelli). But Mikhail Shemyakin at the same time consciously, achieving a certain effect, increased the proportions of the body by almost one and a half times. Therefore, the monument turned out to be grotesque and ambiguous (some people admire it, while others hate it).

However, the very figure of Peter I is also very ambiguous, about which I want to tell everyone who is interested in Russian history.

At the end of this part another myth about death of Peter I .

Peter did not die because he caught a cold, saving a boat with drowning people during a flood in St. Petersburg in November 1724 (although there really was such a case, and it led to an exacerbation of the tsar's chronic illnesses); and not from syphilis (although from his youth, Peter was extremely promiscuous in his relationships with women and had a whole bunch of venereal diseases); and not from the fact that he was poisoned by some "specially donated sweets" - all these are widespread myths.
The official version, announced after the death of the emperor, according to which the cause of his death was pneumonia, does not hold water.

In reality, Peter I had a neglected inflammation of the urethra (he had suffered from this disease since 1715, according to some sources, even since 1711). The disease worsened in August 1724. The attending physicians, the Englishman Gorn and the Italian Lazzaretti, unsuccessfully tried to cope with it. From January 17, 1725, Peter did not get out of bed, on January 23 he lost consciousness, into which he never returned until his death on January 28.

"Peter on his deathbed"
(artist N. N. Nikitin, 1725)

The doctors performed the operation, but it was too late, 15 hours after it, Peter I died without regaining consciousness and without leaving a will.

So, all the stories about how in last moment the dying emperor tried to inscribe his last will, but only managed to write "Leave everything..." , are also nothing more than a myth, or if you want a legend.

In the next short part so as not to make you sad, I will bring historical anecdote about Peter I , which, however, also refers to the myths about this ambiguous personality.

Thank you for attention.
Sergei Vorobyov.

Baida Evgeny Trofimovich

Last year (written in 2003) the 330th anniversary of the birth of Tsar Peter I was celebrated. Now these days grandiose festivities begin on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of the founding of St. Petersburg. International, “international” (approx. These are two words of different meanings), political and even national importance this celebration, it seems, will far exceed the recent celebration of the 850th anniversary of the founding of Moscow. Busts of Peter the Great now adorn the offices of many statesmen. In honor of Peter the Great, awards and prizes are established. Ships are named after him. And there is every reason to believe that the honoring of Peter the Great will only grow with time.
Why so?

Who was Peter I or Peter the Great for Russia really? Good or evil? What threatens us with his current exaltation?

One can count isolated attempts to understand the consequences of Peter's reforms for Russia. Before the revolution, all historians and writers only exalted Peter the Great and his transformations, turning him into almost the main and only founder of the Russian state. The first attempt to understand the true merits of Peter the Great was made by the historian M.N. Pokrovsky (1868 - 1932), when immediately after the revolution, any criticism of tsars and emperors, and especially Russian history, was a good deed. But times soon changed and his critical analysis of the Petrine reforms was recognized as erroneous for reasons of "simplification, sociological vulgarization and national nihilism" (TSB 1975, vol. 20, p. 493). The era of Stalin's reforms has come and a support was needed in the past. Peter became Great again for a short time. The second critical period of rethinking the acts of Peter the Great came in the 90s of the last century, when again, until what time was it allowed to criticize everything and everyone. One of the first publications with a critical assessment of the deeds of Peter was published in 1995 in the literary almanac "Realist". Publicist and critic Anatoly Lanshchikov in the article "Moscow - the Third Rome, the Russian Empire and Russian laziness" showed all the perniciousness and sad consequences of the time of Peter the Great for the economy and development of Russia.
Historians almost never touch this topic. Even domestic church historians try to avoid this topic. The outstanding historian of the church, Metropolitan Macarius (Bulgakov), who wrote a 12-volume history of the Russian Church, reached only 1666 and did not have time to cover this period. Metropolitan of St. Petersburg John (Snychev), in one of his books, promised to tell the whole truth about Peter, but also did not have time, he died in 1995. In the 9-volume History of the Russian Church, published on the basis of the books of Metropolitan Macarius, the period of the The Orthodox Church in the synodal period of 1700 - 1917 (8 volumes, parts 1 and 2) is presented from the point of view of the foreign historian I.K. Smolich. And I must say, it leaves a sad and depressing impression, both from the acts and statements of Peter himself, and from the consequences of his reforms for the Russian Orthodox Church. Peter's church reforms were supposed to essentially destroy the Russian Orthodox Church, but she stood firm and the gates of hell did not overcome her.
Books by A.M. Burovsky published in 2000 - 2001. "The Failed Empire" (books 1 and 2) are the last revelatory publications about Peter the Great and the events that followed his death.
There is another revelatory book by Boris Bashilov, Robespierre on the Throne, about Peter the Great and his consequences of his reforms, but unfortunately it was published in a very small edition and is available only on the Internet on the Russian Sky website.
I will not mention other modern publications about Peter the Great, which have the opposite interpretation and glorify his reforms and himself as the most brilliant and greatest reformer of Russia. Soon, after reading this and the above materials, you yourself will be able to assess his deeds. And we, on the basis of well-known and accessible materials - books, encyclopedias, will try to figure out who and what Peter really was, what were his merits or crimes. Historical archives were not used in this analysis.
I will say right away that this analysis is based on the version that there were two Peters: Tsar Peter I and Emperor Peter the Great, - two different person. The latter was an alien impostor. And there is also a virtual artistic depiction of Peter the Great. And then the whole story of Peter and his reforms is perceived in a completely different way.
Past and modern historians and researchers of Peter I and Peter the Great, criticizing or praising his deeds and believing that this is one person, are always forced to explain the contradictory and mutually exclusive actions and traits of their character. Moreover, it turns out that those who praise Peter do not want to see his crimes, and those who criticize do not want to notice good deeds and good intentions.
I would also like to draw your attention to the fact that in the memoirs of Peter I and Peter the Great, by accident or intentionally, the dates of certain events, as a rule, of a domestic nature, are sometimes mixed up. Therefore, what Peter I said or how he acted is often attributed to the emperor "Peter the Great" and vice versa. This is very confusing in determining their character traits and the true motives of certain actions.

What is said above is just food for thought. I do not want to immediately impose my interpretation of these events. Maybe you yourself will find the truth. I am sure there is a lot of evidence of the imposture of "Peter the Great". This site will be updated and in future releases we will try to answer the following questions:

Who was and where did the impostor come from?
What is the true role of Peter's entourage in these events?
Why did the impostor manage to gain a foothold on the throne?
Why was the secret kept after his death?
Why was the secret kept by all subsequent emperors?
Why was the secret kept after the revolution?
Why is the secret of the imposture of "Peter the Great" preserved now?
What could be the consequences of exposing the imposture of "Peter the Great" or keeping it a secret for our time and the future?

The goal that I set is to restore the good name of Tsar Peter I, who was killed in the Paris Bastille in 1703, and for us to learn a lesson from these events in order to protect us from such mistakes and then his death in French casemates and all those trials that have already endured by our country and our people will not be in vain

Generalized evidence of the imposture of the emperor "Peter the Great"

1
The coincidence in time of the substitution of Tsar Peter I (August 1698) and the appearance of a prisoner in the "Iron Mask" in the Bastille in Paris (September 1698). In the lists of prisoners of the Bastille, he was listed under the name Magchiel, which may be a distorted record of Mikhailov, the name under which Tsar Peter traveled abroad. His appearance coincided with the appointment of a new commandant of the Bastille Saint-Mars. He was tall, carried himself with dignity, and always wore a velvet mask on his face. The prisoner was respectfully treated and kept well. He died in 1703. After his death, the room where he was kept was carefully searched, and all traces of his stay were destroyed.

2
The Orthodox Tsar, who preferred traditional Russian clothes, left for the Great Embassy. There are two portraits of the king made during the journey, in which he was depicted in a Russian caftan, and even during his stay and work at the shipyard. A Latin man returned from the embassy, ​​wearing only European clothes and never again wearing not only his old Russian clothes, but even royal attire. There is reason to believe that Tsar Peter I and the "imposter" differed in body structure: Tsar Peter was shorter and denser than the "imposter", the size of the boots was different, the "imposter" with a high growth of more than 2 meters had a clothing size that corresponded to the modern size 44 !!!

Wax painted statue of C. Rastrelli
and the freak of M. Shemyakin is not a fruit of the creative imagination of sculptors,
and the true appearance of "Peter the Great" and his "reforms"
3
In the portraits of Peter I (Godfried Kneller), made during the Great Embassy, ​​Peter's hair is curly, short, in a bracket, not on the shoulders, as "Peter the Great" later wore, a mustache that is slightly breaking through, a wart on the right side of the nose. With a wart, it is generally not clear, since it is not on the lifetime portraits of "Peter the Great", so it is important to find out when it was and when it was not. The age of "Peter the Great", which is confirmed by lifetime portraits dating back to 1698-1700, is at least 10 years older than Tsar Peter!!!

4
The impostor did not know the location of the library of Tsar Ivan the Terrible, although this secret was passed on to all the kings, and even Tsar Peter's sister Tsarevna Sophia knew and visited this place. It is known that "Peter the Great" tried to find the library immediately after returning from the "Great Embassy" and even carried out excavations in the Kremlin for this.

5
After returning from the Great Embassy, ​​“Peter the Great” hid surrounded by conspirators, did not appear in front of the people and did not even visit his closest relatives until the bloody executions of the archers were carried out, and the bloody “initiation” of new impostor close associates had not passed (Surikov’s picture is not corresponds to historical reality). The suppression of the "streltsy revolt" provoked by Romodanovsky and officials, in fact, was coup d'état, the purpose of which was primarily the destruction of the old armed forces that could oppose the impostor and the creation of a new Russian army under the command of foreign officers. Secondly, it became a bloody "baptism" of the new nobility - the "new Russians", who for the first time in Russia played the role of executioners.

6
In memory of the suppression of the "streltsy rebellion", a medal for the destruction of archers was knocked out, on which Samson was depicted standing over a defeated serpent. All inscriptions are in Latin only. It is known that Samson was from Dan's family, from where, according to the prophecies, the Antichrist should come. It is also noteworthy that "Peter the Great", unlike Tsar Peter I, wore long hair, which is a sign of origin from Dan's family. Later, on the occasion of the victory in the Battle of Poltava, a medal with the image of Samson was also knocked out. Even earlier, a medal was struck on the occasion of the “Great Embassy”, which depicts a horseman slaying a snake (George the Victorious? A strange symbol on the occasion of the trip. In the Masonic lodges of the Scottish rite, one of the symbols is a horseman slaying a snake).

Medal in memory of the suppression of the Streltsy rebellion

Medal in memory of the Great Embassy

Medal for the capture of Azov

7
The people, at that time, spoke directly about the substitution of the king abroad, but these rumors and attempts to clarify this were cruelly suppressed and called a conspiracy or rebellion. It was to prevent such rumors that the Secret Decree was formed.
8
A change in attitude towards his wife, with whom he lived in harmony for eight years. For the environment of the "king" and historians is unknown true reason Peter's cooling off towards his wife after returning from abroad. There are only versions that the tsarina allegedly participated in a conspiracy against her husband, which, generally speaking, is incredible (encouraged the archers to speak out against her husband’s beloved tsar?) and another, that Peter was carried away by Anna Mons (see below). After his return, the “king” did not meet with his wife, Empress Evdokia, and she was immediately sent to a monastery. In exile, Queen Evdokia is in strict isolation, she is even forbidden to talk to anyone. And if this is violated, then the culprit was severely punished (Stepan Glebov, impaled, guarding the queen)
9
The abolition of the Patriarchate in Rus' and the subordination of the management of the church to secular power through the Synod, the device of an amusing Council at the choice of the Patriarch.
10
An attempt to "Protestantize" the Orthodox Church. The subordination of the management of the Orthodox Church to a native of the Vatican, to whom he entrusts the reformation of the Church. He tries to oblige the priests to convey what they say in confession if the penitent speaks of plots against the king or other crimes.
11
The introduction of tobacco smoking in Rus', which is considered the greatest sin in Orthodoxy.
Encouragement and inculcation of drunkenness.
12
Debauchery. The strange behavior of the "king" after his return from abroad is noted. So he always took a soldier to bed with him at night. Later, after the appearance of Catherine, he simultaneously kept concubines. Similar debauchery was in royal palace only with impostors False Dmitry.
13
The murder of Tsarevich Alexei, although in the Orthodox traditions for disobedience, from the point of view of his father, he could only be sent to the monastery, as Tsarevich Alexei asked for.
14
The destruction of Russian folk traditions, the fight against them. Establishing the supremacy of Latin Western culture over traditional Russian.
15
The first reform of the Russian language, which returned the inscription of letters to the ancient Aryan alphabetic symbolism.
16
The transfer of the capital of Russia from Moscow to St. Petersburg to the very outskirts of the Russian Empire, while in the traditions of all states it was the placement of the capital in the center of the state. Perhaps St. Petersburg was conceived by him or his advisers as the capital of a future united Europe, in which Russia was supposed to be a colony?
17
The division of the Russian people into nobles and serfs by birth, the introduction of serfdom, in its meaning, corresponding to the creation of a slave-owning state with slaves from its people, in contrast to the ancient states that made slaves only prisoners of war.
18
Weakening and even freezing of the development of the Russian economy due to the tightening of serfdom, the hard labor industry of serf factory workers, the cessation of the development of the regions of the Northern Urals, Arkhangelsk, Eastern Siberia, almost 150 years before the abolition of serfdom in 1861.
19
Tsar Peter visited Arkhangelsk and Solovetsky Monastery, where he personally made a wooden cross in memory of salvation in a storm. He liked it there. "Peter the Great" consigned Arkhangelsk to oblivion.
20
Subordination of foreign policy Russian state Western interests European states.
21
Creation of a bureaucratic machine of government.
22
Establishing the power and control of foreigners, in the army, public administration, the science of their privileges over the Russians, the distribution of noble titles, lands and serfs to them.
23
The organization of Masonic lodges (1700) even earlier than in Europe (1721.), which practically seized power in Russian society to this day.
25
Construction of a new capital of the Venetian (Jewish) model on the bones of Russian Orthodox people. The place for construction was chosen extremely inconvenient in the swamps.
*****
Relations with Anna Mons, who in fact has always been Lefort's mistress, are invented (intentionally?) by rumor. Although the king gave royal gifts to her family for some kind of service. The proof of this is that upon returning from abroad and sending his wife into exile, Anna Mons does not enjoy his attention, and after the sudden death of the young Lefort, Anna Mons is completely under house arrest. Since 1703, Catherine has been living with the "king".

*****
There is an assumption that the death of P. Gordon and the “friend” of Peter the young Lefort, upon returning from the Great Embassy, ​​which occurred almost simultaneously in 1699, happened because “Peter the Great” or his secret patrons wanted to get rid of the guardianship of those who contributed his penetration on the Moscow throne.

Peter I, nicknamed Peter the Great for his services to Russia, is a figure for Russian history not just iconic, but key. Peter 1 created Russian empire, therefore, he turned out to be the last tsar of all Rus' and, accordingly, the first Emperor of All Russia. The son of the king, the godson of the king, the brother of the king - Peter himself was proclaimed the head of the country, and at that time the boy was barely 10 years old. Initially, he had a formal co-ruler Ivan V, but from the age of 17 he already ruled independently, and in 1721 Peter I became emperor.

Tsar Peter the First | Haiku Deck

For Russia, the years of the reign of Peter I were a time of large-scale reforms. He significantly expanded the territory of the state, built the beautiful city of St. Petersburg, incredibly boosted the economy by founding a whole network of metallurgical and glass factories, and also reduced the import of foreign goods to a minimum. In addition, Peter Great first of the Russian rulers began to adopt their best ideas from Western countries. But since all the reforms of Peter the Great were achieved through violence against the population and the eradication of any dissent, the personality of Peter 1 among historians still evokes diametrically opposed assessments.

Childhood and youth of Peter I

The biography of Peter I initially implied his future reign, since he was born in the family of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov and his wife Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina. It is noteworthy that Peter the Great turned out to be the 14th child of his father, but the firstborn for his mother. It is also worth noting that the name Peter was completely unconventional for both dynasties of his ancestors, so historians still cannot figure out where he got this name from.

The boy was only four years old when the king-father died. His older brother and godfather Fyodor III Alekseevich ascended the throne, who took custody of his brother and ordered him to give him the maximum a good education. However, Peter the Great had big problems with this. He was always very inquisitive, but just at that moment Orthodox Church started a war against foreign influence, and all Latin teachers were removed from the court. Therefore, the prince was taught by Russian clerks, who themselves did not have deep knowledge, and Russian-language books of the proper level did not yet exist. As a result, Peter the Great had a meager vocabulary and wrote with errors until the end of his life.

Tsar Fedor III reigned for only six years and died due to poor health at a young age. According to tradition, another offspring of Tsar Alexei, Ivan, was to take the throne, but he was very painful, so the Naryshkin family organized a virtual palace coup and declared Peter I the heir. It was beneficial for them, since the boy was a descendant of their family, but the Naryshkins did not take into account that the Miloslavsky family would raise an uprising because of the infringement of the interests of Tsarevich Ivan. The famous Streltsy rebellion of 1682 took place, the result of which was the recognition of two tsars at the same time - Ivan and Peter. The Kremlin Armory still has a double throne for the brother-kings.

The favorite game of young Peter I was training with his army. Moreover, the soldiers of the prince were not at all toys. His peers dressed in uniform and marched through the streets of the city, and Peter the Great himself "served" in his regiment as a drummer. Later, he even started his own artillery, also real. The funny army of Peter I was called the Preobrazhensky regiment, to which the Semenovsky regiment was later added, and, in addition to them, the tsar organized a funny fleet.

Tsar Peter I

When the young tsar was still a minor, his older sister, Princess Sophia, and later his mother Natalya Kirillovna and her relatives, the Naryshkins, stood behind him. In 1689, co-ruler brother Ivan V finally gave all power to Peter, although he nominally remained co-tsar until he suddenly died at the age of 30. After the death of his mother, Tsar Peter the Great freed himself from the burdensome guardianship of the princes Naryshkins, and it was from that time that one can speak of Peter the Great as an independent ruler.

He continued military operations in the Crimea against Ottoman Empire, conducted a series of Azov campaigns, the result of which was the capture of the fortress of Azov. To strengthen the southern borders, the tsar built the port of Taganrog, but Russia still did not have a full-fledged fleet, so it did not achieve a final victory. The large-scale construction of ships and the training of young nobles abroad in shipbuilding began. And the tsar himself learned the art of building a fleet, even working as a carpenter on the construction of the ship "Peter and Paul".

While Peter the Great was preparing to reform the country and personally studied the technical and economic progress of the leading European states, a conspiracy was conceived against him, and the king's first wife was at the head. Having suppressed the streltsy rebellion, Peter the Great decided to reorient military operations. He concludes a peace agreement with the Ottoman Empire and starts a war with Sweden. His troops captured the fortresses Noteburg and Nienschanz at the mouth of the Neva, where the tsar decided to found the city of St. Petersburg, and placed the base of the Russian fleet on the nearby island of Kronstadt.

Wars of Peter the Great

The above conquests made it possible to open an exit to the Baltic Sea, which later received the symbolic name "Window to Europe". Later, the territories of the Eastern Baltic joined Russia, and in 1709, during the legendary Battle of Poltava, the Swedes were completely defeated. Moreover, it is important to note: Peter the Great, unlike many kings, did not sit out in fortresses, but personally led the troops on the battlefield. In the Battle of Poltava, Peter I was even shot through his hat, that is, he really risked his own life.

After the defeat of the Swedes near Poltava, the king Charles XII took refuge under the auspices of the Turks in the city of Bender, which was then part of the Ottoman Empire, and today is located in Moldova. With help Crimean Tatars and the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks, he began to escalate the situation on the southern border of Russia. Seeking the expulsion of Charles, Peter the Great, on the contrary, forced Ottoman Sultan unleash a Russo-Turkish war again. Rus' found itself in a situation where it was necessary to wage a war on three fronts. On the border with Moldova, the king was surrounded and agreed to sign peace with the Turks, giving them back the fortress of Azov and access to the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov.

In addition to the Russian-Turkish and northern wars, Peter the Great escalated the situation in the east. Thanks to his expeditions, the cities of Omsk, Ust-Kamenogorsk and Semipalatinsk were founded, later Kamchatka joined Russia. The king wanted to carry out campaigns in North America and India, but failed to realize these ideas. On the other hand, he conducted the so-called Caspian campaign against Persia, during which he conquered Baku, Rasht, Astrabad, Derbent, as well as other Iranian and Caucasian fortresses. But after the death of Peter the Great, most of these territories were lost, as the new government considered the region not promising, and maintaining the garrison in those conditions was too expensive.

Reforms of Peter I

Due to the fact that the territory of Russia expanded significantly, Peter managed to reorganize the country from a kingdom into an empire, and starting from 1721, Peter I became emperor. Of the numerous reforms of Peter I, the transformations in the army clearly stood out, which allowed him to achieve great military victories. But no less important were such innovations as the transfer of the church under the subordination of the emperor, as well as the development of industry and trade. Emperor Peter the Great was well aware of the need for education and the fight against an outdated way of life. On the one hand, his tax on wearing a beard was perceived as tyranny, but at the same time, there was a direct dependence of the promotion of the nobles on the level of their education.

Under Peter, the first Russian newspaper was founded and many translations of foreign books appeared. Artillery, engineering, medical, naval and mining schools were opened, as well as the first gymnasium in the country. And now comprehensive schools not only the children of noble people could visit, but also the offspring of soldiers. He really wanted to create a mandatory for all primary school, but did not manage to carry out this plan. It is important to note that the reforms of Peter the Great affected not only the economy and politics. He financed the education of talented artists, introduced a new Julian calendar, tried to change the position of women by banning forced marriage. He also raised the dignity of his subjects, obliging them not to kneel even before the tsar and to use their full names, and not to call themselves “Senka” or “Ivashka” as before.

In general, the reforms of Peter the Great changed the value system of the nobles, which can be considered a huge plus, but at the same time, the gap between the nobility and the people increased many times over and was no longer limited only to finances and title. The main disadvantage of the tsarist reforms is considered to be the violent method of their implementation. In fact, it was a struggle of despotism with uneducated people, and Peter hoped to instill consciousness in the people with a whip. Indicative in this regard is the construction of St. Petersburg, which was carried out in the most difficult conditions. Many craftsmen rushed from hard labor to run away, and the king ordered their entire family to be imprisoned until the fugitives returned with a confession.

Since not everyone liked the method of governing the state under Peter the Great, the tsar founded the Preobrazhensky Prikaz, an organ of political investigation and court, which later grew into the infamous Secret Chancellery. The most unpopular decrees in this context were the prohibition of taking notes in a closed room, as well as the prohibition of non-speech. Violation of both of these decrees was punishable by death. In this way, Peter the Great fought conspiracies and palace coups.

Personal life of Peter I

In his youth, Tsar Peter I liked to visit the German Quarter, where he not only became interested in foreign life, for example, he learned to dance, smoke and communicate in a Western manner, but also fell in love with a German girl, Anna Mons. His mother was very alarmed by such a relationship, so when Peter reached the age of 17, she insisted on his wedding with Evdokia Lopukhina. However, they did not have a normal family life: shortly after the wedding, Peter the Great left his wife and visited her only in order to prevent rumors of a certain kind.

Tsar Peter I and his wife had three sons: Alexei, Alexander and Pavel, but the last two died in infancy. The eldest son of Peter the Great was to become his heir, but since Evdokia in 1698 unsuccessfully tried to overthrow her husband from the throne in order to transfer the crown to her son and was imprisoned in a monastery, Alexei was forced to flee abroad. He never approved of his father's reforms, considered him a tyrant and planned to overthrow his parent. However, in 1717 young man arrested and imprisoned in the Peter and Paul Fortress, and next summer sentenced to death. The matter did not come to execution, since Alexei soon died in prison under unclear circumstances.

A few years after the dissolution of the marriage with his first wife, Peter the Great took 19-year-old Marta Skavronskaya as his mistress, whom the Russian troops captured as spoils of war. She gave birth to eleven children from the king, half of them even before the legal wedding. The wedding took place in February 1712 after the woman adopted Orthodoxy, thanks to which she became Ekaterina Alekseevna, later known as Empress Catherine I. Among the children of Peter and Catherine are the future Empress Elizabeth I and Anna, mother, the rest died in childhood. Interestingly, the second wife of Peter the Great was the only person in his life who knew how to calm his violent temper even in moments of rage and fits of anger.

Despite the fact that his wife accompanied the emperor in all campaigns, he was able to get carried away by the young Maria Cantemir, the daughter of the former Moldavian ruler, Prince Dmitry Konstantinovich. Maria remained the favorite of Peter the Great until the end of his life. Separately, it is worth mentioning the growth of Peter I. Even for our contemporaries, a more than two-meter man seems very tall. But in the time of Peter I, his 203 centimeters seemed absolutely incredible. Judging by the chronicles of eyewitnesses, when the Tsar and Emperor Peter the Great walked through the crowd, his head towered over the sea of ​​people.

Compared to his older brothers, born to a different mother from their common father, Peter the Great seemed to be quite healthy. But in fact, he was tormented by severe headaches almost all his life, and in the last years of his reign, Peter the Great suffered from kidney stones. The attacks intensified even more after the emperor, along with ordinary soldiers, pulled out the boat that had run aground, but he tried not to pay attention to the illness.

At the end of January 1725, the ruler could no longer endure pain and fell ill in his Winter Palace. After the emperor had no strength left to scream, he only groaned, and the whole environment realized that Peter the Great was dying. Peter the Great accepted death in terrible agony. Doctors called pneumonia the official cause of his death, but later doctors had strong doubts about such a verdict. An autopsy was performed, which showed a terrible inflammation of the bladder, which had already developed into gangrene. Peter the Great was buried in the cathedral at the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg, and his wife, Empress Catherine I, became the heir to the throne.

Peter I - the youngest son of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich from his second marriage with Natalya Naryshkina - was born on May 30, 1672. As a child, Peter was educated at home, from a young age he knew German, then studied Dutch, English and French. With the help of palace masters (carpentry, turning, weapons, blacksmithing, etc.). The future emperor was physically strong, agile, inquisitive and capable, had a good memory.

In April 1682, Peter was enthroned after the death of a childless man, bypassing his older half-brother Ivan. However, the sister of Peter and Ivan - and relatives of the first wife of Alexei Mikhailovich - the Miloslavsky used the streltsy uprising in Moscow to palace coup. In May 1682, the supporters and relatives of the Naryshkins were killed or exiled, Ivan was declared the "senior" tsar, and Peter the "junior" tsar under the ruler Sophia.

Under Sophia, Peter lived in the village of Preobrazhensky near Moscow. Here, from his peers, Peter formed "amusing regiments" - the future imperial guard. In those same years, the prince met the son of the court groom Alexander Menshikov, who later became the "right hand" of the emperor.

In the second half of the 1680s, clashes began between Peter and Sofya Alekseevna, who were striving for autocracy. In August 1689, having received news that Sophia was preparing a palace coup, Peter hastily left Preobrazhensky for the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, where troops loyal to him and his supporters arrived. Armed detachments of nobles, gathered by the messengers of Peter I, surrounded Moscow, Sophia was removed from power and imprisoned in the Novodevichy Convent, her close associates were exiled or executed.

After the death of Ivan Alekseevich (1696), Peter I became an autocratic tsar.

Possessing a strong will, purposefulness and great capacity for work, Peter I throughout his life replenished his knowledge and skills in various fields, devoting Special attention military and naval affairs. In 1689-1693, under the guidance of the Dutch master Timmerman and the Russian master Kartsev, Peter I learned to build ships on Lake Pereslavl. In 1697-1698, during his first trip abroad, he completed a full course in artillery sciences in Koenigsberg, worked as a carpenter at the shipyards of Amsterdam (Holland) for six months, studying ship architecture and drawing plans, and completed a theoretical course in shipbuilding in England.

By order of Peter I, books, instruments, weapons were purchased abroad, foreign craftsmen and scientists were invited. Peter I met with Leibniz, Newton and other scientists, in 1717 he was elected an honorary member of the Paris Academy of Sciences.

During the reign of Peter I carried out major reforms aimed at overcoming the backwardness of Russia from the advanced countries of the West. Transformations touched all areas public life. Peter I expanded the landlords' property rights over the property and personality of serfs, replaced the household taxation of peasants with poll tax, issued a decree on the possession of peasants, who were allowed to be acquired by the owners of manufactories, practiced the mass registration of state and yasak peasants to state and private factories, the mobilization of peasants and townspeople into the army and for the construction of cities, fortresses, canals, etc. The decree on uniform inheritance (1714) equalized estates and estates, giving their owners the right to transfer real estate to one of the sons, and thereby secured noble ownership of land. The Table of Ranks (1722) established the order of rank in the military and civil service not by nobility, but by personal abilities and merit.

Peter I contributed to the rise of the country's productive forces, encouraged the development of domestic manufactories, means of communication, domestic and foreign trade.

The reforms of the state apparatus under Peter I were an important step towards the transformation of the Russian autocracy of the 17th century into the bureaucratic-noble monarchy of the 18th century with its bureaucracy and service classes. The place of the Boyar Duma was taken by the Senate (1711), boards were established instead of orders (1718), the control apparatus was represented first by "fiscals" (1711), and then by prosecutors headed by the prosecutor general. Instead of the patriarchate, the Spiritual College, or Synod, was established, which was under the control of the government. Great importance had an administrative reform. In 1708-1709, instead of counties, voivodships and governorships, 8 (then 10) provinces headed by governors were established. In 1719, the provinces were divided into 47 provinces.

As a military leader, Peter I is among the most educated and talented builders of the armed forces, commanders and naval commanders of Russian and world history of the eighteenth century. His whole life's work was to strengthen the military power of Russia and increase its role in the international arena. He had to continue the war with Turkey, which began in 1686, to wage a long-term struggle for Russia's access to the sea in the North and South. As a result of the Azov campaigns (1695-1696), Azov was occupied by Russian troops, and Russia fortified on the shores of the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov. In the long northern war(1700-1721) Russia, under the leadership of Peter I, achieved a complete victory, received access to the Baltic Sea, which gave it the opportunity to establish direct ties with Western countries. After the Persian campaign (1722-1723), the western coast of the Caspian Sea with the cities of Derbent and Baku went to Russia.

Under Peter I, for the first time in the history of Russia, permanent diplomatic missions and consulates abroad were established, outdated forms of diplomatic relations and etiquette were abolished.

Major reforms were also carried out by Peter I in the field of culture and education. A secular school appeared, the monopoly of the clergy on education was eliminated. Peter I founded the Pushkar School (1699), the School of Mathematical and Navigational Sciences (1701), the Medical and Surgical School; the first Russian public theater was opened. In St. Petersburg were established Marine Academy(1715), engineering and artillery schools (1719), schools of translators at colleges, the first Russian museum - the Kunstkamera (1719) with a public library was opened. In 1700 were introduced new calendar with the beginning of the year on January 1 (instead of September 1) and the reckoning from the "Nativity of Christ", and not from the "Creation of the World".

By order of Peter I, various expeditions were carried out, including to Central Asia, to Far East, to Siberia, laid the foundation for a systematic study of the country's geography and mapping.

Peter I was married twice: to Evdokia Feodorovna Lopukhina and to Marta Skavronskaya (later Empress Catherine I); had a son from his first marriage Alexei and from the second - daughters Anna and Elizabeth (besides them, 8 children of Peter I died in early childhood).

Peter I died in 1725 and was buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral of the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources

Three hundred and sixteen years ago, Peter the Great introduced the European chronology in Russia, throwing the Slavic calendar into the "trash of history" on which was 7208. Why did Peter the Great need to change the calendar and impoverish Russian history? Historians put forward a shocking hypothesis.

It was not Peter Alekseevich Romanov who canceled it at all, but an impostor who arrived from Europe in his place. At the time of departure, Peter was 26 years old. He had a mole on his left cheek, wavy hair, and was slightly taller than average. This is clearly seen in the portraits of that time. The sovereign was well educated, loved everything Russian, knew the Bible and Old Slavonic texts by heart.

Evidence that Tsar Peter I was an impostor

After his arrival from abroad (which happened two years later, instead of the planned two weeks, and as part of a delegation of twenty people, only Menshikov returned with Peter), the tsar looked completely different outwardly. According to eyewitnesses, he was about two meters tall (which was a rarity at that time), there was no that very mole on his left cheek, there were hard straight hair.

He was also physically very strong and, in particular, demonstrated various skills that could hardly be acquired without participation, for example, in naval battles. It was probably a different person, and he was very different from the real Pyotr Alekseevich Romanov.

The man who returned from, although he had an outward resemblance to Peter, immediately puzzled his subjects with strange habits. He ordered that beards be shaved and dressed in Western fashion. And he himself never wore his old clothes again, including royal vestments, probably because the size did not suit him.

The new Peter was over two meters tall, which at that time was a rarity. Until the end of his days, he suffered from a tropical fever, which there was absolutely nowhere to pick up in Europe. It's a disease of the South Seas. During the battles, he demonstrated great experience in boarding combat, which can only be obtained by experience, and Peter had not participated in any naval battles before.

Returning to, Peter ordered to exile his legal wife Evdokia Lopukhina to a remote monastery, without even seeing her. But at the beginning of the journey, he often wrote tender letters to her, which have survived to this day: he consulted, swore love and fidelity. And suddenly such a sharp change. Probably, the impostor was afraid that his royal wife would immediately notice the substitution and therefore, first of all, took care of its elimination.

Another, albeit indirect, evidence in favor of the impostor. The sovereign was gone for two years, and if Princess Sophia had plans to take the throne, she did not have a more convenient moment, but she did not make any attempts to do so. Only after seeing Peter returning from Europe, Sophia raises a streltsy rebellion, the reason for which was simple - the king is not real.

He was suppressed, and in fact, by force, the possibility of even discussing the topic that the king was a different person was eliminated.

Among the reforms of Peter, who returned from Europe, historians see a number of measures that destroyed a number of the richest cultural traditions of Russia. Cancellation of measures of length and weight: sazhens, cubits, vershoks. A ban on the cultivation of a number of agricultural crops, such as amaranth, which was the basis of Russian bread. The abolition of Russian writing, which consisted of 151 characters, and the introduction of the forty-three character writing of Cyril and Methodius. Peter ordered everything to be taken to Petersburg and then burned. He called on German professors who wrote a completely different Russian history.

What happened to the real Peter the first? According to historians, he was captured by the Jesuits and placed in the Swedish fortress. He managed to convey the letter to Charles 12 - the king of Sweden, and he rescued him from captivity. Together they organized a campaign against the impostor. But the entire Jesuit Masonic brethren of Europe, called to fight, together with the Russian troops, won a victory near Poltava. The real Russian Tsar Peter 1 was captured and placed away from the Bastille, where he later died. An iron mask was put on his face.

But why was such a complex and dangerous substitution of the sovereign needed? Why was it necessary to try to erase Russian history at any cost? What was there so dangerous for Western Europe? Perhaps this is also explained very simply. For many centuries, the Germans illegally occupied our lands and were very afraid that we would demand them back at any moment.