"Cut a window to Europe"

Portrait of Peter I. Artist Jean-Mar Nattier, 1717
Guilty to the guilty
Letting go, having fun;
He shares a mug with him;
And kisses him on the forehead,
Bright in heart and face;
And forgiveness triumphs,
Like a victory over an enemy.
The Feast of Peter I. Alexander Pushkin
"Window to Europe"
Since the times of the Russian Empire, a myth has been created in Russian historiography about Peter's "great reforms", which created a great power, pulled Rus' out of "savagery". They joined Russia to European civilization. That Westernization was a blessing for the state and the people.
However, already in the 18th century, a number of Russian historians and thinkers noted the negative consequences of Peter the Great's reforms. The Tsar "cut a window" to Europe and began a large-scale modernization of Russia in the European style, the Westernization of the nobility (the elite of that time). In essence, this was a cultural revolution ("Russians need to be put on the right path").
This led to the division of the Russian people into two nations, and the state into two worlds: peasant Russia (with a special world of Old Believers) and Westernized European nobles who saw all the best and the "light of enlightenment" only in Western Europe. For whom the role models until the beginning of the 20th century were Holland, Germany, France and England.
The European nobles practically forgot the Russian language and culture. German and French became their native languages. They became the "superior race", and Russia was made a kind of colony for the extraction of resources. And the resources were spent on a luxurious life and in order to live in European capitals and resorts. Meanwhile, the vast masses of the Russian peasantry lived in the past, having returned to the communal way of life and subsistence farming.
The best Russian rulers understood that this was very dangerous. They tried to discipline the nobility, to return Russianness to it. However, they were unable to resolve this issue. This split eventually became the main prerequisite for the catastrophe of 1917, which destroyed the empire and the Romanov project.

Conversation of Peter I in Holland. Unknown Dutch artist. Late 1690s.
"German" Tsar
Pyotr Alekseevich Romanov was born on May 30 (June 9), 1672 in Moscow to the family of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich (ruled 1645-1676) and his second wife Natalia Kirillovna Naryshkina. The death of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich led to the accession of his eldest son Feodor Alekseevich (from Tsarina Maria Ilyinichna, née Miloslavskaya) and to the seizure of power by the Miloslavsky family.
Peter's mother and her relatives, the Naryshkins, were pushed into the background, which became the prerequisite for an elite conflict. The residence of Tsarina Natalia became the village of Preobrazhenskoye near Moscow. This conflict predetermined the worldview of the future tsar. Peter did not receive the basic education befitting a future tsar, and in search of a different way of life, he made friends with foreigners, whom he began to trust more than his subjects.
On April 27 (May 7), 1682, the sickly Tsar Feodor Alekseevich died. According to custom, the throne was to be inherited by the next son of Tsar Alexei and Tsarina Maria Ilyinichna, Ivan. But he was sickly, incapable of governing the country. According to some sources, even feeble-minded, but perhaps this statement was a slander by the Naryshkins, who were fighting for power.
With the support of Patriarch Joachim, the Naryshkins and their supporters proclaimed Peter tsar. The Miloslavskys organized a mutiny of the Streltsy. Some of Peter's supporters were killed or fled. As a result, the elder Ivan was recognized as the first tsar, and the younger Peter as the second. And Tsarevna Sophia Alekseyevna became regent due to the minority of her brothers. Tsarina Natalia and Peter fell into disgrace and withdrew from court.
The young and immature Tsarevich Peter, before becoming the absolute ruler, went through a long path of intrigue, deception, conspiracies and rebellions. This became the basis for his negative character traits - irascibility, distrust, suspicion of others and general distrust of the old Russian world.
The fear he experienced in childhood led to the development of "falling sickness" (epileptic seizures). Peter became extremely cautious, trying to calculate his steps ahead and foresee impending dangers, and tried to control literally everything. Palace intrigues also had a negative impact on his education. Peter received a poor basic education, but later he managed to compensate for this with rich practice and self-education.
Finding himself out of work, Peter became interested in military, naval, artillery and fortification work. He personally tried to delve into all the details, study all the features of the studied specialties, was interested in science, which ultimately made the young tsar a skilled practitioner, a professional in his field. This was his positive side. Peter wanted to introduce Russia to the advanced achievements of European science, technology and military affairs.
Peter placed his bets on foreigners. The German settlement, which was located not far from his palace in Preobrazhenskoye, became Peter's home. His entourage included Franz Lefort, Patrick Gordon, Theodor von Sommer, Franz Timmerman, Karsten Brandt and others. With their help, "toy regiments" were created - Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky, which in the future became a real fighting force, a bombardier company, where Peter was a simple bombardier, fortifications were built, exercises were conducted, etc.
It is clear that foreigners used this to strengthen their influence on Peter. It is possible that among them there were agents of influence of foreign powers, this was a common occurrence then and now. Lefort planted his mistress Anna Mons, the daughter of a German craftsman, under Peter. The Tsar fell in love with the foreigner so much that he sent his legal wife Evdokia to a monastery and even wanted to marry the Kukuy queen (named after the German settlement - Kukuy). The frivolous person missed the chance to become the Russian queen. She was unfaithful to the Tsar, when Peter found out about it, Mons fell into disgrace.
Unfortunately, this did not improve the tsar's tastes. Peter became infatuated with the former servant Marta Skavronskaya, who had previously been a concubine of Sheremetev and Menshikov, and eventually became the Russian Empress Catherine I.
Communicating with foreigners, Peter gradually adopted their way of life. Peter lit a German pipe, began attending parties with dancing and drinking. He destroyed his family with his free relationship with Mons. One of the consequences of this was a breakdown in relations with his son, Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich, the son of Evdokia Lopukhina. This eventually led to a personal tragedy - the affair of Tsarevich Alexei and his death.

The Morning of the Streltsy Execution. Artist V. I. Surikov, 1881
Westernization
Another negative consequence, already of a civilizational nature, was the spread of the Western way of life among the nobility and the general population (especially the urban population), including smoking, wider alcohol consumption, the emergence of categories of women freed from old morality, etc. The layering of the Western way of life on the ruling, privileged strata of the population, with the preservation of patriarchal traditions among the mass of the people, led to the disorganization of Russian life and everyday life. A significant part of the elite began to parasitize on the people, perceiving their parasitism as “innate elitism” and “chosenness.”
Many people look with a sneer at the shaving of beards and the dressing of nobles in European clothes. But this is not the main thing. The Tsar-reformer encroached on the foundations of the existence of Russian civilization, its cultural code. They tried to reforge the Russians in the European style. Western culture was literally driven into Rus' with an iron fist and a whip.
The massacre of the Streltsy with the personal participation of Tsar Peter I became a symbol of crucified Russian culture and faith.
Tsarina Sophia and her entourage made a number of mistakes, which ultimately led to the strengthening of the Naryshkins' position. Therefore, Sophia's attempt to finally seize power in 1689 led to her defeat. Sophia was imprisoned in a monastery. Tsar Ivan V continued to be the senior tsar until his death in 1696, although he had no real power. Power passed into the hands of people who rallied around Tsarina Natalia Kirillovna. Peter initially showed indifference to state affairs. His mother and her government ruled. Only after his mother's death in 1694 did Peter become the sole ruler.
Peter demonstrated strategic thinking. Thus, he began moving south, taking Azov in 1696. It was necessary to build on this success by achieving full access to the Black (Russian) Sea.
Unfortunately, having fallen under the influence of Western rulers, Peter turned north, starting a war with Sweden. It dragged on until 1721. Russia was able to regain access to the Baltic, occupied the Baltics and built the Baltic fleetDuring the war, the Russian sovereign was able to create a full-fledged regular army and guard, a military-industrial complex, and shipbuilding. The power of Sweden, which was the most powerful state in the region, was undermined. Russia became a great European power and declared itself an empire.

Peter I interrogates Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich in Peterhof. Nikolai Ge, 1871
Geopolitics of Peter the Great
Pyotr Alekseevich had a global mindset and understood that Russia had to go south and east. The country had to gain access to strategic communications and points that would allow it to control the situation in the most important regions of the planet. Russia could not remain on the sidelines of the Great Game.
Peter understood the importance of the North. One of the great undertakings of Tsar Peter I was the scientific study of the geography of the Russian state and adjacent territories, instrumental surveys and the compilation of "general maps". After Kamchatka was annexed to Russia, the Tsar ordered the establishment of sea communication on boats between Okhotsk and the western coast of Kamchatka. He ordered the expedition of Vitus Bering to the Far East, which was to find an isthmus or strait between Asia and North America, and then go down the coast of North America to the south. Peter planned to establish Russian colonies in America.
An expedition was sent to Central Asia with the aim of persuading local rulers to accept Russian citizenship and to explore the route to India. True, the Russian detachment perished. But it is obvious that if Peter had not died in 1725, Russia would have continued moving south. Peter's early death stopped the annexation of Central Asia until the XNUMXth century.
Peter also had a plan to conquer Madagascar to establish a base in the Indian Ocean and establish relations with the Mughal Empire in India. Madagascar was a pirate state that sought the patronage of a European power. The first expedition - two frigates were sent from Reval in 1723 - ended in failure due to poor preparation. The ships were not ready for a long expedition.
Peter, however, did not abandon his intention and prepared a new expedition. After the death of the first Russian emperor, the African campaign was abandoned. The new rulers of Russia no longer had strategic thinking; they were more interested in intrigues, the struggle for power, money, holidays and other entertainment.
In 1722, Peter organized the Persian campaign. Russian troops captured Derbent, the western shore of the Caspian Sea with the fortresses of Baku, Resht and Astrabad. The Persian Empire was forced to cede Derbent, Baku and the provinces of Gilan, Mazandaran and Astrabad to Russia. Turkey also recognized this conquest. It was a great success. However, after Peter's death, all Russian efforts went down the drain. Russia would have to return to this region at the beginning of the XNUMXth century and pay a new heavy price in the war with Persia.
Reform
A whole layer stories Russia was associated with Peter's military, state, socio-economic and cultural reforms. Thus, the church was finally subordinated to the state. After the death of Patriarch Adrian, a new patriarch was not allowed to be elected. He was replaced by the Patriarchal Locum Tenens, and in 1721, the Spiritual College, or Holy Synod, was created.
This was the second terrible blow to Orthodoxy, after Nikon's schism. After that, Christianity in Russia took on a formal, state-official character. Faith was replaced by formalism (except for individual exceptions, like Seraphim of Sarov). The Church became part of the state apparatus. Priests were a category of lower officials, despised by the people.
Peter carried out a series of state reforms. The orders were replaced by boards. The most important of them were the Military Board, the Foreign Affairs Board and the Admiralty. The Governing Senate was created. The country was divided into 8 provinces. In 1722, Peter issued a decree on the order of succession to the throne, according to which the monarch himself could choose his heir.
Peter carried out a monetary reform, as a result of which the main monetary unit became not the denga, but the kopeck. The most important financial measure was the introduction of a poll tax. Peter, in search of new sources of financing (there was a war, money was needed for reforms and large-scale construction), introduced a monopoly on certain goods, new indirect taxes and all sorts of fees. Measures were taken to develop industry and trade.
Thanks to a number of transformations, the legal formalization of class rights and obligations of each category of the population of Russia took place. Classical serfdom was almost completely formalized.
Peter made great efforts to develop the education system. In 1700, a school of mathematical and navigational sciences appeared in Moscow. Later, artillery, engineering and medical schools were opened in Moscow, an engineering school and a naval academy in St. Petersburg. The first mining schools appeared. To develop mass education in provincial cities, digital schools were created, garrison schools were created to teach soldiers' children, and theological schools were created to prepare priests. In 1705, the first gymnasium was opened.
The nobility and clergy were obliged to receive an education. Peter planned to introduce compulsory education for the urban population and create an all-class primary school. But after his death, the creation of a network of schools ceased. Peter was able to lay the foundation for the development of education in Russia. After his death, the Academy of Sciences opened. In general, it is difficult to find an area of life in Russia at that time that was not affected by the reforms and events of the energetic tsar.
Peter Alekseevich was not the first Westernizer in Russia. Boris Godunov and False Dmitry I were Westernizers, as were practically all the first Romanovs, who slowly carried out the turn of Russian civilization to the West. The turn to the West was carried out by Tsarina Sophia and her favorite Vasily Golitsyn, who was an ardent Westernizer and also (according to S. M. Solovyov) had a special relationship with the Jesuits.
But it was under Peter that the Westernization of Russia became irreversible. Russian history entered the European (Western) channel, from which it was possible to break away only with the great bloodshed of the catastrophe of 1917. In 1991, the creeping Westernization that had been carried out since the time of Khrushchev again gained the upper hand. And now Russia again found itself at a “broken trough”. The treacherous collapse of the USSR led to the West being able to pit two parts of the Russian world and the Russian super-ethnos against each other – the Russian Federation and the former Ukrainian SSR (historical Little Russia), Russians-Great Russians and Russians-Little Russians.
Therefore, Peter should not be blamed for all the sins. He only ardently continued the course of the first Romanovs. The Tsar was not an absolutely negative figure in the history of Russia. The Tsar made a lot of mistakes, but also did a lot for the benefit of the great power, he was not a traitor, he had a strategic vision. In the late period of his reign, Peter gradually began to correct his mistakes, relied on national personnel, not "Germans", and could have brought much more benefit to Russia. Therefore, his death raises suspicions, perhaps he was eliminated.
As a result, power was taken over by incompetent temporary workers who staged a bacchanalia of palace coups, stole, squandered and derailed many of the great projects of the reformer tsar. Much of the legacy of Peter the Great's empire was destroyed.

The Bronze Horseman in St. Petersburg (1782)
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