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Page
11
Peter
the
Great
Born
1672,
Tsar
of
Russia
from
1682
‐
1725
In
the
history
of
Russia
there
is
no
name
more
famous
than
that
of
Peter
the
Great.
Before
his
time
the
Russians
were
far
behind
the
other
nations
of
Europe
in
knowledge
of
the
arts
and
the
comforts
of
life.
Russia
had
no
navy
and
its
army
was
viewed
with
contempt.
Peter
devoted
a
large
part
of
his
reign
to
improving
the
condition
of
his
country
and
his
people.
He
made
Russia
prosperous,
powerful,
and
respected.
He
was
born
in
1672,
and
was
the
son
of
the
Tsar
Alexis
(Tsar
is
the
Russian
word
for
Emperor).
His
mother
was
Natalya
Naryshkina,
the
second
wife
of
Tsar
Alexis.
Natalya
had
an
unusual
background
for
a
Russian
noblewoman.
She
had
been
raised
as
a
ward
in
the
household
of
Tsar
Alexis’
chief
minister,
Artemon
Matveev.
Matveev’s
wife
was
Mary
Hamilton,
the
daughter
of
a
Scots
nobleman
who
had
fled
Scotland
and
settled
in
Russia
after
the
overthrow
and
execution
of
King
Charles
I.
Artemon
and
Mary
raised
their
ward,
Natalya,
and
gave
her
a
western
style
education
–
at
a
time
when
it
was
exceedingly
rare
for
any
Russian
woman,
peasant
or
noble,
to
be
allowed
to
learn
to
read
or
write.
After
Tsar
Alexis’s
first
wife
died,
the
42
‐
year
‐
old
widower
fell
in
love
and
married
the
nineteen
‐
year
‐
old
ward
of
his
chief
minister.
Fifteen
months
later,
Peter
was
born.
When
Peter
was
three
and
a
half,
Tsar
Alexis
died
and
was
succeeded
by
his
fifteen
year
old
son,
who
became
Tsar
Fedor.
Tsar
Fedor
was
a
mild,
soft
‐
spoken
young
man,
who
earnestly
wanted
to
rule
well.
Sadly,
he
died
just
after
he
turned
twenty
‐
one.
Next
in
line
for
the
throne
was
Fedor’s
younger
brother
Ivan,
age
16
and
his
ten
‐
year
‐
old
half
‐
brother,
Peter.
Ivan
had
always
been
a
sickly
child.
He
was
half
‐
blind,
Famous
Men
of
the
18
th
Century
Page
12
lame,
and
had
difficulty
speaking.
The
champion
of
Ivan’s
right
to
be
Tsar
was
his
older
sister,
Sophia.
The
Russian
nobles
wished
to
name
Peter
as
Tsar.
Sophia
insisted
that
Ivan
was
the
rightful
heir.
The
solution,
which
pleased
neither
side,
was
to
proclaim
the
two
boys
joint
emperors
of
Russia.
Their
older
sister,
Sophia,
was
appointed
as
regent.
Sophia
was
not
content
to
simply
be
regent
for
her
two
younger
brothers.
Sophia
determined
to
make
herself
empress,
and
conspired
with
Galitzin,
the
prime
minister,
with
that
end
in
view.
"Madam,"
said
Galitzin,
"we
need
fear
nothing
from
Ivan,
but
Peter
alarms
me.
He
has
a
thirst
for
knowledge
that
cannot
be
quenched.
He
wishes
to
know
everything."
It
was
as
the
minister
said.
Peter’s
mother
had
sought
out
for
him
tutors
who
could
satisfy
his
thirst
for
knowledge.
Peter
asked
questions
about
everything.
He
was
particularly
interested
in
maps,
boats,
and
in
all
things
military.
In
order
to
keep
him
distracted,
Sophia
allowed
him
to
form
his
own
military
regiment
and
assigned
soldiers
to
obey
his
commands.
But
Peter
did
not
want
to
command
simply
because
he
was
Tsar.
He
joined
the
regiment
with
the
rank
of
a
private
and
insisted
that
the
sergeants
and
officers
teach
him
the
duties
and
skills
of
a
soldier.
When
he
was
about
seventeen
years
of
age
Peter
was
informed
that
his
half
‐
sister
Sophia
and
Prince
Galitzin
intended
to
murder
him.
Peter,
with
the
help
of
his
mother
and
his
friends
in
“his”
regiment
acted
first.
He
escaped
from
Moscow
to
a
nearby
monastery
where
he
could
defend
himself.
He
made
public
the
details
of
Sophia’s
plot
and
called
on
the
officers
of
the
palace
guard
in
Moscow
to
abandon
their
support
of
her
and
join
him
in
the
country.
The
palace
guard
(called
the
Streltsy)
complied
and
Peter
had
won.
He
banished
Galitzin
to
the
icy
region
of
Archangel
and
confined
his
sister
in
a
convent.
He
thus
became,
at
about
eighteen
years
of
age,
the
active
ruler
of
Russia;
for
Ivan
was
not
healthy
enough
to
take
any
share
in
the
government.
Peter
the
Great
(1672–1725)
Page
13
The
Russia
which
Peter
became
the
ruler
of
was
landlocked
and
ringed
by
enemies.
Russia
was
rural
and
agricultural,
with
Moscow
the
only
city
of
even
moderate
size.
Even
in
Moscow,
in
1690,
most
of
the
buildings
were
constructed
of
logs.
In
the
northwest,
Sweden
controlled
both
shores
of
the
Baltic
and
had
strong
garrisons
in
all
of
the
port
cities.
To
the
west
was
Poland,
ancient
rival
of
Russia.
To
the
south,
the
authority
of
the
Tsar
dwindled
to
nothing
only
a
few
hundred
miles
from
Moscow.
Though
they
were
ethnically
Russian,
and
adhered
to
the
Russian
Orthodox
Church,
the
Cossacks
did
not
recognize
the
Tsar,
but
paid
tribute
to
the
Turkish
Sultan
in
Constantinople.
Further
to
the
south,
along
the
northern
shores
of
the
Black
Sea
were
the
Crimea
Tatars.
The
Tatars
were
descendants
of
the
old
Mongol
tribes.
They
had
been
converted
to
Islam.
They
recognized
no
foreign
ruler,
but
like
the
Cossacks
they
paid
tribute
to
the
Turkish
Sultan
and
sometimes
joined
his
army.
In
1382
and
1571,
the
Tatars
had
sacked
and
burned
Moscow.
Russians
feared
and
disliked
all
foreigners.
At
the
same
time,
the
Tsars
had
recognized
that
military
officers
and
technical
experts
from
other
European
countries
were
desperately
needed
in
Russia
in
order
to
help
her
catch
up.
The
decrees
of
Tsar
Alexis,
Peter’s
father,
illustrated
both
ideas.
On
the
one
hand,
he
ordered
that
foreigners
be
forbidden
to
live
inside
the
walls
of
the
city
of
Moscow.
On
the
other
hand,
he
decreed
that
a
special
city
be
built
a
few
miles
outside
of
Moscow
for
foreigners,
where
they
would
be
permitted
to
own
land
and
construct
their
own
churches.
This
new
city
became
known
as
the
German
suburb.
Russians
called
all
foreigners,
generically,
“Germans”.
Turmoil
in
France,
Germany,
and
England
(along
with
some
discreet
recruiting
by
representatives
of
the
Tsar)
soon
resulted
in
a
significant
population
of
military
officers,
engineers,
artists,
doctors,
merchants,
and
schoolmasters.
They
came
from
England
and
Scotland
(mostly
Catholics
fleeing
Puritan
rule
and
the
exclusion
acts.
After
Louis
XIV
revoked
the
edict
of
Nantes,
a
surprising
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