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Russia
and the Great Northern War |
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351-15
Later seventeenth-century
Europe (3)
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Peter the Great (1672-1725) became Tsar in
1682 at the age of ten years, but in the same year he was forced to share
the tsardom with his negligible half-brother Ivan V.
[Family tree]
Ivan's sister arranged this coup and in 1689 she tried to seize power. Her attempt failed and
she was sent to a nunnery. Then Peter's mother Nathalie held power until her
death in 1694, after which Peter ruled personally (Ivan died in 1696).
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During his exclusion from power, the young Peter organized his friends
and servants into regiments of soldiers, instituted military training
and practiced mock military maneuvers.
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Peter with his brother, Ivan and son, Alexis,
(on the right stand two two senior clerics). |
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In February 1689, Peter unwillingly married Eudoxia Lopukhin (Evdokia
Lopukhina) who was slightly stupid, and bad-tempered. Their marriage was soon on the rocks. She was the mother of his first
son, the (equally dim) Tsarevich Alexis (1690-1718). |
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Tall, strong and energetic, Peter was interested in technological
advance and commercial progress. He visited the West in 1697-98 to
observe Western civilization firsthand.
He met and made friends with Augustus of Saxony and then stayed for
four months in the Netherlands (largely studying shipbuilding) before
moving on to England.
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John
Evelyn's Diary
6 February
1698: The Czar Emperor of Muscovy, having a mind to see
the building of ships, hired my house at Says Court, and made
it his court and palace, lying and remaining in it, new
furnished for him by the King: …
20 March 1698: The Czar goes to Portsmouth to see the
representation of a sea fight…
21 April 1698: The Czar of Muscovy went from my house
towards Russia, …
Bishop
Burnet's History of his own Time
"I waited often
on him [Peter]…He is a man of very hot temper, soon inflamed,
and very brutal in his passion; he raises his natural heat by
drinking much brandy … he wants not capacity, and has a larger
measure of knowledge than might be expected from his
education, which was very indifferent: a want of judgment with
an instability of temper appear in him too often, and too
evidently; he is mechanically turned, and seems designed by
nature rather to be a ship carpenter than a great prince; this
was his chief study and exercise while he stayed here; …
After I had seen him often, and had conversed much with him, I
could not but adore the depth of the Providence of God that
had raised up such a furious man to so absolute an authority
over so great a part of the world … man seems a very
contemptible thing in the sight of God, while such a person as
the czar has such multitudes put as it were under his feet,
exposed to his restless jealousy and savage temper." |
Peter and his drunken Russian companions did
not treat Evelyn's house well. They tore the curtains,
spattered filth on the walls and floors, used the pictures for
target practice, and ruined the lawn. They caused so much mess
and damage that Evelyn claimed £350
as compensation.
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Peter also visited
the Royal Mint, the Royal Observatory, the Arsenal, the
theatre, and Parliament.
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Peter welcomed foreigners with scientific knowledge, technical skills
and commercial connections to Russia; those with military and naval
expertise were particularly welcome. |
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Although Peter was determined to modernize and Westernize Russia, few
Russian boyars shared his enthusiasm. Consequently, Peter chose
his friends and advisers from foreigners or from the ranks of the
lesser, service nobility. One of Peter's first close friends was the
Swiss mercenary, François Lefort (1656-99). The German diplomat,
Andrew Ostermann (1686-1747) and the Scottish General,
Patrick Gordon (1635-99) also rose high in Peter's service.
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Alexander Danilovich Menshikov
(1673-1729)
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Alexander Danilovich Menshikov was of very
humble origins and, supposedly, when young sold meat pies in the
streets of Moscow. He rose to high military command, and acted as
Peter's first minister. |
| In 1696 Peter used combined land and naval forces
(ships from the Don) to capture the port of Azov (it surrendered
18 July 1696). |
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Peter returned from his trip to the West in large part because of a
new revolt of the streltsy (the musketeers of the Moscow
garrison who supported Ivan V's sister, Sophia). Peter took the revolt
as an occasion to dispatch old enemies. About one thousand streltsy
were executed, including (allegedly) a few personally beheaded by Peter
in the torture chamber. Despite the lack of direct evidence that
Sophia had been involved, Peter confined her strictly to a
convent. He also forced his wife to become a nun. |
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Peter began to introduce Western technical innovations into Russia,
but first he used his new military knowledge against the Western
powers. |
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Augustus The Strong
(1670-1733) |
Peter at Poltava
(painted by Johann Gottfried Tannauer) |
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Peter allied with Poland and Saxony (united under the rule of Augustus
the Strong) and with Denmark against Sweden. Sweden's control of the
ports of the Eastern Baltic meant that Russian goods exported to
Europe were subject to Swedish customs and tolls. Peter's ambitions to
make Russia a naval power could not be satisfied until Russia had a
port in European waters. (Archangelsk was iced shut for much of the
year). |
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Charles XII of Sweden was only
fourteen years old when he acceded to the throne in 1697, but he immediately
commenced an aggressive assertion of personal and national power. |
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In 1700, the Saxons attacked Livonia and the Russians besieged
Narva. In November an army of 8,000 Swedes counterattacked the
Russian force of 23,000 and defeated them dramatically. Fortunately for the Russians, the Swedes could not follow up their victory in the
Spring of 1701, as they had to deal with the Polish-Saxon threat. In
summer 1702, Charles XII defeated the Poles and Saxons at the Battle
of Kliszów, and successfully besieged Torun
(Thorn). Meanwhile, Charles did all he could to stir up Polish feeling
against Augustus the Strong and encourage support for a pro-Swedish
candidate for the Polish crown. In 1706 Charles invaded Saxony itself
and forced Augustus to renounce the Polish Crown in the Treaty of
Altranstädt (September 1706).
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In 1703, Peter established Russia's first
port on the Baltic with the foundation of Saint Petersburg. During
1704 and 1705, Russia conquered territory in Estonia and Livonia,
and infiltrated troops into Poland. |
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In 1708 a Swedish army of 40,000 marched
into Russia. In July 1708, the Swedes defeated the Russians at
Holowczyn, but only at a great cost in casualties. In October 1708,
the Russians were able at the hard-fought Battle of
Lesnaia (Lesnája) to prevent the Swedes bringing up supplies
that would have permitted Charles to hit Moscow directly. Charles
instead decided to move through the Ukraine, and attempted to form
alliances with Turks and Cossacks. |
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In Spring 1709, the Swedes
besieged the town of Poltava. Peter marched his army there and
established fortified positions that forced the Swedes to give battle; on 8 July the
Swedes lost 10,000 casualties and prisoners and 15,000 more
surrendered three days later at Perevolochna. The remaining Swedish
forces were obliged to retreat. Charles XII fled to Turkey and ended
up staying there for four years. |
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Europe as a whole immediately
grasped the importance of the Battle of Poltava and began to treat
Russia with a new respect. However in November 1710, the Turks
declared war on Russia. Peter attacked aggressively but lost, and was
forced to return Azov to Ottoman control. |
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Russia was successful against
Sweden, seizing Riga, the fortress of Viborg and much of Finland. Peter also
defeated the Swedish navy in the Baltic.
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In the Treaty of Nystad
(September 1721), Russia restored most of Finland (though not Vyborg), but retained Ingria,
Estonia and Swedish Livonia. Russia took Sweden's place as the great
power of Baltic Europe. |
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Reforming Russia
| Peter the Great considerably expanded the Russian army, increasing
its size from about 130,000 men in the 1670s to about 170,000 in
the 1700s.
He divided the country into regimental districts and sent in
administrators who could conscript soldiers and labor service,
billet troops and impose taxes. Peter instituted a census system so
that he could estimate the numbers of young males available for
service. |
| To officer his army, Peter made great efforts to enforce the obligation of
all landowners to serve personally in the armed forces.
(They made equally vigorous efforts to avoid this obligation). Even the sons of
boyar families had to learn soldiering as junior officers, and
promotion was based on merit. Special elite Guards regiments were
established where noble youths served in the ranks. |
| Although Russians were reluctant sailors, and initially the navy
was heavily reliant on foreign officers and expertise, Peter managed by
continual pressure to create and maintain a fleet that served
usefully in the Northern War. In July 1720, the Russian fleet beat
off a Swedish attack at
Grengham and captured four frigates. |
| "His majesty [the
Czar] is a sovereign monarch, who is not answerable to anyone in
the world in his affairs, but holds the power and authority to
rule his realms and his lands as a Christian monarch by his own
will and good opinion." |
Statement included in the
Military and Naval Statutes of Peter the Great. |
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The representative institutions of Russia - what would later become known as the Boyar Duma and
the Zemsky Sobor - had diminished in importance during the
seventeenth century, and Peter ignored them or used them as rubber
stamps. Peter used a Senate to administer Russia when he was occupied
with war and foreign policy. Its members were one step down from
Peter's principal advisors and friends.
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Peter also copied (from Sweden) institutions called "Colleges" in an
effort to simplify and rationalize administration of specific areas of
government - trade, industry, foreign affairs, finance and so on. He
tried to make promotion within state service dependent on merit (not
aristocratic connections). |
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Peter reformed church government and brought the church under central
control. He left the office of Patriarch vacant after 1700. He
placed a "monastery department" in charge of the church's land and
revenue and created a "spiritual college" (known as the Holy Synod) to
direct religious matters.
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Peter created a parody of the Church and
Court in the Drunken Synod of Fools & Jesters
(alternatively translated the All-Mad, All-Jesting, All
Drunken Assembly). The Drunken Synod appointed its own
bishops and patriarch - chosen on the basis of ugliness,
gluttony and (key) the ability to consume vast amounts of
booze. Peter led its members in fancy-dress parties,
carol-singing (demanding money), and mock religious
rituals. The Synod's first commandment was that no member
should go to bed sober. One member, when being instituted "metropolitan", was asked ritually "Do you believe? Do you
drink?"
Some commentators have assumed the Synod must
have had some serious purpose (such as mocking superstition)
but it was probably just an elaborate excuse for having a good
time. |
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The Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul,
designed along Western lines by the Italian architect, Tressini
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Peter was willing to tolerate non-Orthodox
Christian foreigners (particularly Protestants) if they brought
technical knowledge with them from the West.
Peter reformed the Calendar: - the New Year now
began on January 1st (not September 1st) and and years were
dated from the birth of Christ (not the creation of the world). |
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Peter wanted to modernize Russian industry. He passed laws and spent
state funds to expand textile production (for army uniforms), mining
(for arms production) and metalworking. He built the Neva-Volga canal
system (1703-09) to improve communications. |
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He tried to Westernize society by ending eastern customs such as the
seclusion of women (terem), and by encouraging Western dress
and manners. He made a basic education compulsory for all noblemen's'
sons. |
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Peter's son, the Tsarevich Alexis became the focus of opposition to
Peter's reforms. Peter had him arrested and forced him to renounce his
right to succeed. Alexis fled to Austria, was persuaded to return,
tortured, tried and sentenced to death. He died before sentence was
carried out.
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On his death in 1725, Peter was succeeded by Catherine, his second wife. Catherine
was possibly the illegitimate daughter of a serf, or perhaps the
orphaned daughter of a Swedish officer. She was introduced to Peter by
Menshikov and remained Menshikov's friend and (later) protector. She seems to
have married Peter quietly in 1707, but the marriage was not
made public until 1711. Menshikov amongst Peter's other
ministers helped to ensure that she (not Alexis's son) took the
throne at Peter's death. |
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Peter's methods were brutal and he made many enemies, but he dragged
Russia into the modern era and made it a powerful force in Europe.
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