"Cut a window to Europe"

55
"Cut a window to Europe"
Portrait of Peter I. Artist Jean-Mar Nattier, 1717


No! He makes peace with his subject;
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)
55 comments
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  1. +14
    29 January 2025 04: 17
    Russian history entered the European (Western) channel, from which it was possible to escape only with the great bloodshed of the catastrophe of 1917.
    When did they "break out"? From 1917 to 1991, the state ideology was the ideas of German and French philosophers and economists, the education system was European, industry, medicine, transport were European, the army was of the European type... The author himself conveys his opuses through the European information transmission system. Who broke out and where?
    1. +25
      29 January 2025 06: 46
      The window to Europe was cut not to go there, but to spy. Otherwise, they would have cut a door.
      1. +11
        29 January 2025 07: 55
        Quote: Pereplut
        The window to Europe was cut not to go there, but to spy. Otherwise, they would have cut a door.

        Explain. Isn't using the European education system "floating in the European mainstream"? And teaching soldiers European drill training and subordination? Not to mention military ranks.
      2. +11
        29 January 2025 08: 58
        The window to Europe was cut not to go there, but to spy on it.

        It would be more appropriate to say: look, accept the best and do better.
        But our "elites", as always, climbed to the window... it seems they needed a peephole.
        1. +12
          29 January 2025 10: 11
          Quote: 75Sergey
          It would be more appropriate to say: look, accept the best and do better.

          That's right. Western civilization largely determined development, so it was impossible to fence oneself off with a high fence and try to live in step with the times, and Peter, like no one else, understood this perfectly.
          The Tsar was not an entirely negative figure in Russian history.

          Absolutely negative? stop If it weren’t for his progressive reforms, we would have fallen behind another hundred years...
          Quote: 75Sergey
          But our "elites", as always

          Instead of working conscientiously, they preferred to acquire as many privileges as possible...
        2. 0
          31 January 2025 23: 15
          But our "elites", as always, climbed to the window

          It seems the opposite. Their swindlers with forged documents were dumped into lucrative positions.
      3. +2
        30 January 2025 21: 25
        Excellent comment. Thank you.
  2. +25
    29 January 2025 04: 24
    A significant part of the elite began to parasitize on the people, perceiving their parasitism as “innate elitism” and “chosenness.”

    And before that, what did they do, excuse me? Under Peter the Great, nobles were obliged to serve in the civil service, perpetually, by the way. Education is compulsory. Social lifts through the Table of Ranks.
    Western culture was literally driven into Rus' with an iron fist and whip.

    They hammered in little. This is what gave us the modern Russian language. "Strasbourg pie is imperishable between living Limburg cheese and golden pineapple" - that's how the parasite Pushkin wrote, for example. All the achievements of Russian Culture originate from Peter the Great's reforms. There is nothing shameful in learning and adopting the experience of other countries and cultures. It is shameful to be ignorant and stubborn and proud of one's inertia and stupidity.
    The new rulers of Russia no longer possessed strategic thinking; they were more concerned with intrigue, the struggle for power, money, holidays and other entertainment.

    I don't understand who the author means, until Nicholas I there were only victories and expansion. Holidays and entertainment are also important by the way. Soft power is something that the US always has in abundance, but the USSR and China do not. The best victory is a bloodless cultural annexation, and our strategists and great analysts still don't give a damn about warheads.
    Well, and all sorts of little things, like where the discord between Peter and Tsarevich Alexei came from, those who are in the know know.

    The article is so-so, but noticeably better than "Russians need to be led to the right path", which was complete nonsense.
    1. +9
      29 January 2025 10: 07
      Quote: gustav3502
      There is nothing shameful in learning and adopting the experience of other countries and cultures. It is shameful to be ignorant and stubborn and proud of your inertia and stupidity.

      Now this is called traditional values, the management does not specify what time period to take as a standard, either the 80s of the last century, or the 30s, or maybe it would be better to take the 18th century as a model, then there was order and the vile class knew its place.
  3. +14
    29 January 2025 05: 42
    How to preserve national identity and at the same time develop technologically is a difficult task. There was a time when they brought a technical innovation and said, "Make it better." But such times have sunk into oblivion. Having foreign equipment, we are already ideologically losing to the manufacturer. Soviet engineers, visiting Western countries, brought ideas back home. After that, there were only tourists.
    1. +3
      30 January 2025 03: 11
      Yes, every country with its own culture and traditions faces this. You can learn from the Japanese, they still sacredly honor their traditions, a very isolated country, ethnically homogeneous. At the same time, it is also highly technological, they took the engineering school and in general what they liked in the West, and what they didn’t like, they didn’t take, as simple as it would seem. Before that, they also took the Chinese writing system and remade it for themselves.
      1. +1
        30 January 2025 13: 16
        Hearing that the Japanese don't have any schools, they bought up patents
  4. +1
    29 January 2025 05: 52
    Quote: Samsonov Alexander
    In the later period of his reign, Peter gradually began to correct his mistakes, relying on national personnel rather than “Germans”
    Peter is credited with saying: We only need Europe for thirty years, after which we will turn our backs on it. And we didn't turn our backs. Too bad
  5. +1
    29 January 2025 06: 51
    Having cut a window to Europe, Peter I connected to the European sewer system, the aromas of whose excrement we inhale to this day... wink
  6. 0
    29 January 2025 06: 59
    It turns out, according to the article, that under the USSR, not a country divided into two peoples, but a state divided into two worlds (slogans hung on every corner and at all party congresses they shouted that the people and the party are one), lasted only seventy years. And divided under the Romanovs - it lasted 300 years!
    It is strange that with such "analyses" the country not only was alive all these 300 years, but also during these 300 years grew in territory to the largest and most powerful empire in the world. I am not even talking about those canvases painted then, which art museums are proud of today, about those books that Pushkins and Derzhavins and Lermontovs wrote then, and operas and ballets created by all sorts of Glinkas and Tchaikovskys. And what cities and how many were built - starting from St. Petersburg and Odessa and ending with Novosibirsk and Khabarovsk. And all this was done by a country divided into two peoples and two worlds under the Romanovs???
    1. +3
      30 January 2025 02: 55
      Yes, divided. A paradox? But a fact. And masterpieces and palaces and railways and cities. And on the other hand, slavery, lawlessness, hunger and poverty. A fact. By the way, in ancient Greece and Rome things were exactly the same. Technically, it's very simple. Take a whip and start building cities and statues. And along the way, on a full stomach, you can scribble a poem.
  7. +11
    29 January 2025 07: 13
    The article is a masterpiece. Every line pours slop on Peter, and then immediately describes what this gave.

    The war with Sweden is a Western plot.
    And the fact that Sweden was an old enemy of Russia is so-so. And that undermining Sweden's strength in the Northern War raised the prestige of our state.

    An alliance with Augustus - nonsense? As a result, Poland could no longer do anything in Europe and lost all its positions.

    I do not argue that some reforms were controversial. But the fact is that it was Peter the Great who laid the foundation for the greatness of the Russian Empire. A man who simply by force of will changed the state. And what was an understate on the outskirts of Europe became a leading world power.
    1. +4
      29 January 2025 11: 22
      The war with Sweden is a Western plot.
      I don't know about the intrigues, but before the defeat in the Northern War, Sweden was the main supplier to Europe of timber, hemp, tar. Russia could also export the same, but through Arkhangelsk. After the defeat, Sweden, in fact, lost this monopoly, it turned out that the same timber could be bought from Russia, in the Baltic ports, St. Petersburg, and they forgot about it.
  8. +4
    29 January 2025 07: 32
    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.
    As they say in the film: "When you speak, Ivan Vasilyevich, it seems that you are delirious." What Russian sovereigns? Elizabeth is the last Russian from the Romanovs . Karl Peter Ulrich, already so-so Russian, with a stretch, and only then came the Holstein-Gottorp, Anhalt-Zerbst and other representatives of the seedy German royal courts.There are no Russians there. , that's why the nobility hung out the German tsars like a deck of cards. Two were killed, the third Nicholas I got out of it and always felt fear of the nobility, which was passed on to the subsequent Holstein-Gottorp. The last Nikolashka was overthrown by the nobility, and his brother Mikhail was afraid of the crown, like the devil of incense, the fear remained in his blood. The Germans on the Russian throne couldn't do anything good at all. , there is no need to shed crocodile tears for them, they disappeared, good riddance to them.
    1. +4
      29 January 2025 09: 17
      Well, the Prussian she-wolf, for example, placed Russian bayonets in Warsaw. And annexed Crimea. Planted potatoes.
  9. +3
    29 January 2025 08: 14
    The West was able to pit two parts of the Russian world and the Russian super-ethnos against each other

    Krch, "Old songs about the main thing", and finally found out who stood at the origins of the February revolution of 1917 Yes
  10. -8
    29 January 2025 08: 57
    Russian history entered the European (Western) channel, from which it was possible to escape only with the great bloodshed of the catastrophe of 1917.

    The transformation of Russian Nikolaev into Mykolaiv and so on is... a Russian channel?

    .
    The treacherous collapse of the USSR led to the West being able to set them against each other two parts Russian world
    if they hadn't been cut into pieces 107 years ago, there would have been nothing to pit against each other...

    The Bronze Horseman in St. Petersburg (1782)
    It's funny, but Peter on the monument, according to the inscription - Petro


    .
    1. +2
      29 January 2025 09: 11
      Well Pietro is Italian.
      1. 0
        29 January 2025 15: 29
        Quote: Gardamir
        Well Pietro is Italian.

        Mriya len tre, Ivan firewood kole.. Pip tela pase?... Italy...in Kryzhopolsky.
  11. +4
    29 January 2025 09: 04
    The funniest thing is that we have now cut through the gates to China and are trying to build incomprehensible “development models”.
    The Chinese themselves say that they did not have a development plan, only a path along which they tried different methods and themselves admit that there were many mistakes.
    So maybe we won't repeat the mistakes of others, but like Jews, we'll take the best from the West and the East, and not just a way to rob the people of Russia better, we'll make scientists, designers, teachers, doctors the elite, and not traders and hucksters (by the way, they can easily be replaced by artificial intelligence and it won't take money for it).
    1. +6
      29 January 2025 10: 19
      Quote: 75Sergey
      let's make scientists, designers, teachers, doctors the elite, and not traders and profiteers (by the way, artificial intelligence can easily replace them and it won't take money for it).

      The latter disagree with you, since recently they have been trying to replace the former with AI, and not make them into an "elite"... Electronic education and remote healthcare - that's what the "elite traders and profiteers" are preparing for everyone...
    2. 0
      29 January 2025 10: 49
      So maybe we won't repeat the mistakes of others, but like Jews, we'll take the best from the West and the East, and not just a way to rob the people of Russia better, we'll make scientists, designers, teachers, doctors the elite, and not traders and hucksters (by the way, they can easily be replaced by artificial intelligence and it won't take money for it).


      We constantly repeat the same mistake, it seems that it is already clear that you don’t need to live with a lifelong ruler, two or three maximum terms of four years and then “retire”, but no, we are again jumping on the same rake, each time more and more strongly and getting more and more catastrophic consequences for the state.
    3. -1
      30 January 2025 13: 17
      We already had everything ourselves in the USSR. We just need to improve it.
  12. +8
    29 January 2025 09: 25
    A most interesting interpretation. At the end of the 17th century, the European powers were both developed and strong. America and Africa were colonized. And Peter joined them in the same row. So much so that even England began to fear us. A great creation, and now they say that he was wrong and made mistakes. What kind of abomination is this? These same people say that IVS was a dictator, a usurper and a terrible person.
    If Peter had not done what he did, Russia would have been torn apart like the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth or the Livonian Principality, with their old foundations.
    1. +1
      29 January 2025 14: 42
      Quote: a.shlidt
      Now they say that he was wrong and made mistakes. What kind of disgusting thing is this? These same people say that IVS was a dictator, a usurper and a terrible person

      They get paid well for this.
    2. -1
      30 January 2025 13: 18
      Under Peter, industries emerged that did not exist before - glass, etc.
  13. +5
    29 January 2025 11: 42
    A very strange article, similar to individual harsh phrases thrown from the podium...
    Moreover, they are quite controversial.
    It was not Peter who divided Russia into two church worlds - the Old Believers and the state church. But his dad Alexei. The quietest.
    What does it mean "under the influence of Western powers, he turned the war to the north"?
    When a hundred years ago the Russian (Narva, Yuryev, Kolyvan) and controlled (Order and other Courland) lands were squeezed out. During the unsuccessful Livonian War, betrayed by the traitorous boyars. This SVO simply had to happen, the ally was not very powerful, Augustus the Strong. But who knew.
    All the more honor - they defeated the strongest European army, and then won for another hundred years, they even got used to it.
    And about the South - they also thought about it, with the Cossacks, it's true they made a mess of things, the Bulavinites and Nekrasovites cost them dearly, but... the Cossacks, instead of an unpredictable, willful force, became an unshakable part of the regular troops, and aroused the envy of the European sovereigns.
    Peter died, having planned a campaign against Persia, to cut not even a window, but a full-fledged gate to the Indian Ocean, which would have placed a large part of world trade under our control, land and sea. He died quite suddenly, he was not old and still quite strong, and the doctor was English, which brings bad thoughts.
    Were there any downsides to Peter's reign? Of course, there was cruelty unheard of before or after, a quarter of the population lost. He could have stopped smoking, we still can't get rid of it, I smoked a lot for 35 years, I quit with difficulty. The Church as a political administration is the path to future unbelief, atheism and sectarianism.
    Well, and a fatal sin for a ruler: he did not leave a successor, as if he was going to live forever. But he could have adopted, following the example of the Roman Caesars, or determined by decree - there would have been clarity, and not the mouse fuss of Menshikov with noble families, and then the absolutely non-Russian descendants of Peter's brother Ivan. Yes, it would have been better to adopt Minich, for example, he was devoted to Russia, and multifacetedly talented...
    But then the daughter had to establish herself on bayonets, and it was not an absolute monarchy that emerged, but rather Menshikov, Biron, Bezborodko, the Orlovs, Potemkin, and even Pavel, who tried to rule alone, but it did not last long, actually ruled.
  14. +3
    29 January 2025 12: 24
    Forgive us, Pyotr Alekseevich, we have wasted everything...
  15. +1
    29 January 2025 12: 33
    Due to its location, Russia must have not only a window to Europe, but also at least a small window to Asia.
  16. +1
    29 January 2025 14: 26
    "Russia could not remain on the sidelines of the Great Game."
    Here the author was a little hasty.
    The term "The Great Game" refers to the political and strategic struggle for influence in Central Asia, particularly between Great Britain and the Russian Empire, in the 19th century. The term was first used in the mid-19th century and was popularized by British diplomat Arthur Connolly, who described the rivalry between the two powers for control of regions such as Afghanistan and India.

    The Great Game spans the period from the 1830s to the early XNUMXth century, when Britain and Russia sought to expand their spheres of influence in Central Asia and prevent each other's expansion.
    Great Britain sought to protect its colonies in India, while Russia sought access to warm seas and expansion of its influence to the south.
    The Great Game involved various diplomatic maneuvers, espionage operations, and even military conflicts such as the Anglo-Afghan Wars.
    The term was also popularized in literature, particularly in novels such as Rudyard Kipling's Kim, which described intrigue and spy games in this context.
  17. +1
    29 January 2025 14: 33
    Author, you should probably decide... Otherwise, there is some kind of dual presentation: Peter destroyed the foundations of the Russian universe, then the great reformer and builder of the empire, who ultimately planted a bomb to destroy it. The forerunner of the bomber Lenin, it's just that the geostrategist hasn't been told about it yet. It smells very much of the creations of the late Soviet and Novorossiysk liberals: the USSR built and strengthened, but Lenin and Stalin are evil, the USSR won, but Lenin and Stalin are evil, the USSR achieved, but Lenin and Stalin... Cheap methods of manipulating the consciousness of immature (developed by today's education) minds, author... I don't know why the editors of VO value you so much... I can't even guess)
    1. -1
      30 January 2025 13: 34
      Yes. Yaputie's speechwriters are not very good. The story about the bomb planted by Lenin has already amused everyone. But many believe in it.
  18. +1
    29 January 2025 14: 40
    Populist water, IMHO.
    I'm too lazy to even analyze anything concrete from the falsifications
  19. +1
    29 January 2025 14: 46
    Quote: Gankutsu_
    The article is a masterpiece. Every line pours slop on Peter, and then immediately describes what this gave.

    An article for flat minds. I expect minuses from them.
  20. 0
    29 January 2025 15: 32
    Peter I cut a window to Europe, where the most progressive states were, with unprecedented technologies. All this is in the past.
  21. +2
    29 January 2025 15: 55
    The respected author writes on various topics and events, but all his works are united by only one thing - this is the "catastrophe of 1917". Whatever his articles are about, this is the red thread that runs through everything. But if free education, medicine, housing, social guarantees, development of science, production, a superpower for him is a "red apocalypse", then what is progress for him?
  22. +1
    29 January 2025 17: 19
    Break Samsonov's computer, turn off the Internet, take away his pen, pencil and paper... His daily pearls and reposts give him heartburn
    1. 0
      30 January 2025 03: 12
      It won't work. There are "Samsonov cooperative" of schoolchildren there. You won't be able to neutralize them all. laughing From the very first lines I understood that it was them and immediately moved on to “discussions”.
  23. +2
    29 January 2025 18: 09
    If the author does not like Peter, then this is not a reason to trash him. He was no angel. But to argue about how good it would have been if he had not existed is, at the very least, just empty talk. But the fact that before him Russia was on the outskirts of the world, and after him it confidently gained a voice, is indisputable. Could this have been done in another way? Maybe. But no one has demonstrated it. And therefore, from the point of view of history, he is a reformer and the Great.
  24. 0
    29 January 2025 22: 06
    He was a terrible man. Stalin was a lamb in comparison. We thank him for the wonderful Petersburg, of course, if we don't remember what it cost the Russian people.
    1. +1
      30 January 2025 03: 17
      There are quite a few Swedish bones in the foundations. About 30 thousand, maybe more. And you can only compare him to Stalin in terms of accomplishments. And not in any other way. He was a humane man.
    2. -1
      30 January 2025 13: 20
      Channel One showed something about the Romanovs, he threw it. Like Peter the Great even chopped off heads himself. What a monster. Doesn't deserve good Russian memory))))/
  25. +2
    30 January 2025 00: 13
    There are not many powers on the continent comparable to Russia in capabilities... Neither China nor India had their own Peter at that time... As a result, China entered the world stage not so long ago, and India still means little... Only Japan experienced a breakthrough similar to that made by Peter... and even, probably, in an even more severe version.
    1. -1
      30 January 2025 13: 21
      China has its main test ahead. They thought that they would crush everyone with pure economics. And they have become less dismissive of Russia in the last three years. Because they understand that they are not very good warriors.
  26. 0
    30 January 2025 09: 46
    Honestly, it’s hard to imagine how this nonsense is born in the author’s head.
    All you need to know about Peter's time is that the Russian Empire became one of the leading countries in the smelting of iron, cast iron and copper.
    Thanks to this economic backlog, the economic and political influence of the Russian Empire subsequently spread to vast territories, for example, the North Caucasus, Novorossiya, Asia, etc.
    It would be foolish to deny this.
    It is no coincidence that Peter was a positive character; even during Stalin’s time, films were made about this outstanding personality.
    Peter's waterers are traitors and true enemies of the Russian people.
    What this leads to can be clearly seen in the example of the former Ukrainian SSR.
    1. 0
      30 January 2025 13: 18
      Quote: Dozorny_ severa
      All you need to know about Peter's time is that the Russian Empire became one of the leading countries in the smelting of iron, cast iron and copper.

      And thanks to the supply of timber, hemp, etc., it tied England to itself for a long time. Throughout the 18th century, Russia and England were in fairly normal relations.
  27. 0
    30 January 2025 09: 52
    Quote: faterdom
    I could have stopped smoking, we still can’t get rid of it, I smoked a lot for 35 years, I quit with difficulty

    Excellent phrase - you started smoking yourself, but for some reason Peter is to blame - how wonderful that is.
    The fatties will accuse him of importing potatoes, right?
    Who else has complaints about Peter?
    1. +1
      30 January 2025 13: 16
      Quote: Dozorny_ severa
      Who else has complaints about Peter?

      Me. He died early. If he had lived another 100-150 years, it would have been fine.
  28. +1
    30 January 2025 19: 14
    Mr. Samsonov has his own history, his own logic and his own ideas. And if something contradicts them, then Mr. Samsonov declares it Mr.
  29. 0
    30 January 2025 20: 06
    Quote: Trapper7
    Me. He died early. If he had lived another 100-150 years, it would have been fine.

    Here, yes, there is nothing to counter - although what about the Bronze Horseman? He seemed to have tried to reincarnate, but apparently, seeing Alexander 1 on the throne, he became disillusioned with reality.