What was so great about Peter the Great?

(1672-1725)

Mother Russia

• “Backwards” compared to the rest of Europe
• Western world looks at it with disdain
• Russia looks to the West with distrust

		Sophia tries to get rid of Peter and Natalya by inciting a rebellion against them with the help of the streltsy. She claims that Peter and his mother had killed Ivan (started by a rumor of his death). Her Goal? To put Ivan on the throne with her as regent. Eventually, Peter and Natalya  prove Ivan is alive. Soon, there is a truce worked out. 2 Tsars = Ivan and Peter with Sophia as regent.  Peter is still basically in charge.   Ivan will eventually die, and leave Peter as sole ruler. The first thing Peter does is go on vacation! This will be the first peacetime trip for any ruler. He was going incognito (but a 6’8” tall guy with a 250-person caravan is a little hard to miss) He goes to Europe to get the technology, power, and influence of Europe. He tours factories, mills, museums, etc., where he can learn stuff. He spends 5 months in Amsterdam, working as a ship hand to learn how ships were made. He knows his country is backward and doesn’t have a change in the changing world unless it modernizes.   He goes home after some upsets with the streltsy. By the time he gets back to Russia, his advisors had dealt with them, but had captured 1700 of them. Peter will subject them to extreme torture, to get information out of them, before finally killing them.   WESTERNIZATION Peter wants to change the look of traditional boyars. He starts making his men shave off their traditional beards. There is a BIG upset! He will eventually compromise, and says, you want a beard, you pay a tax (the higher up you are, the higher your tax). Next he has to get rid of the traditional robes, so that they are shorter, like in Europe. He also wants to get his economy and military as good as Europe, and he wants absolute control of the government like Louis XIV.   Major Problems with Russia Interacting with the West Huge borders Their only seaport is unfrozen only 2 months of the year He will finally get land on the Baltic to build his new capital city and port = St. Petersburg by fighting with Sweden   The Great Northern War Peter wants what land Sweden has He allies with Denmark and Poland Russia is NOT ready militarily Charles XII (age 18) defeats Russia staggeringly Peter will rebuild his army and start to use European technology 1709-Peter will be the victor at Narva This will end Sweden’s power. Russia is now the dominant power on the Baltic, and now has the ladn necessary to build the new capital. The new port will be open at least 6 months of the year.   St. Petersburg – “A Window onto Europe” Great evidence of how Peter modernized his country. He modeled it upon European city design and architecture, and requires his nobles to build home there. The capital of Russia is now here instead of Moscow (The city with the highest degree of latitude in the world) “The Venice of the North”