Peter the Great

AD

The Regency of Sophia

• Father Alexis had 2 wives– Mary Miloslavskaia– Natalie Naryshkina– This created 2 possible lines of succession– Mary = 2 sons, Theodore & Ivan– Natalie = Peter– Theodore took throne but died w/out son– Ivan & Peter co-ruled with sister Sophia– Sophia was regent until boys reached app. age

The Regency of Sophia

• Brokered the Eternal Peace Treaty of 1686– Which secured the left bank of the Ukraine and Kiev for Russia– Unified E. Euro against Turks

• Boyars were in opposition to her• Boyars supported Peter• Peter had developed a passion for military• Sophia organized a coup against Peter• Army sided with Peter• Peter as primary leader = 1689• Ivan as co-tsar

The Regency of Sophia

• Wanted to preserve family’s power• Encouraged the streltsy to use violence in support of her• Pursued a set of domestic and foreign policies that

undermined the support she had received from the Russian nobility

• She is responsible for– Concessions to merchants– relaxed penalties on peasants escaping– First institution of higher learning– War against the Crimean Tatars

Pete and North War

• 1700-1721• Declared war on Sweden to reclaim Baltic

coastline, not satisfied with access to Black Sea

• Sweden defeated Russians in Battle of Narva (1700)

• Then embarked on project to found St. Petersburg

North War Cont.

• Because it couldn’t be burned, Peter used stone for architecture in St. Petersburg; became permanent settlement in Northwest

• Sweden invaded Russia (1708)• Peter staved off the Swedish attack, forcing

King Charles XII southward to Ukraine, which he invaded

• Peter’s forces eventually defeated Swedes in Battle of Poltava in 1709

Mo North War

• 1710- Turkey declared war on Russia, temporarily took northern coast of Black Sea

• Great Northern war continued for another decade, fighting mostly in the North, resulting in Russia’s seizure of Finland

• Charles XII died in 1718

And End to North War

• Swedish surrender resulted in Treaty of Nystadt in 1721 in which Russia ceded most of Finland and paid 2 million units of Swedish currency but secured Baltic territories of Estonia, Ingria, Livonia, and part of Karelia

The Reign of Peter the Great

BY:Incendiary Skittles

Peter the Great’s Reforms• His reforms took an international perspective-extensive

European travels and conflicts with Sweden and Turkey• Made a series of military reforms in response to constant state

of war• Landed gentry were required for the first time to enlist and

participate in military affairs• Russian population was subjected to draft by lottery (one

person from every 75 peasant houses)• Exceptions: physically unable to fight, clergy, and merchant

class• Written manuals for officers• Merit-based system of promotion

• Greatness is associated with his series of accomplishments as tsar, physical statue, intellect, and personality.

• Favorite learning style is a hand-on approach.• Learned variety of trades including ship building, dentistry, and

cobbling.• Worked through the ranks of the Russian army and navy.• He was the first Russian leader to subject himself to the interest of

the state.• Traveled secretly throughout Europe in part to garner support,

from monarchs to stop Ottoman influence.• Studied shipbuilding in Holland. Also studied dentistry and

entomology.

• Peter’s careful observations of how Western European societies functioned led to the introduction of a host of policies designed to modernize Russian society.

I. Shaving of Orthodox beards (symbols of respect, He thought it to uncivilized.)

II. Eliminating the long, bulky robes of Byzantine influence, taking on the tight-fitting western style

III. Ending the anachronistic practice of arranged marriagesIV. Promoting educational reformsV. Moving Russia from a creationist-based Orthodox

calendar to one base on the Julian system

• Peter’s excursion was cut short in 1698, by word of a bourgeoning coup by the streltsy.

• Steltsy- an elite group of military guards• The steltsy planned to overthrow Peter and install Sophia as

Tsarina.• Peter returned to Moscow to stop the conspiracy.• He interrogated, tortured, and executed thousands of steltsy.• Left the bodies to warn others that it would happen to them if they

tried to over throw the throne.• Peter’s half-sister was exiled to a convent where she spent the

remainder of her days.

Continued• Training requirements in several weapon types• Aimed at revising government from the

national to the local level• Interests sovereign to those of the state• Created the Senate, which had judicial,

bureaucratic, and financial powers• Created 12 Colleges to better manage

executive affairs• Increase the ease of collection taxes and

information

Church Reforms

• Refused to fill the office of Patriarch after death of the previous one

• 1721 – 1917; replaced the position of Patriarch with the Holy Synod (Religious committee under secular official)

• Primary functions of churches became education

Socioeconomic Reforms

• Developed the “head tax” during the Great Northern War, to be paid by each subject in the state except merchants and gentry

• Ended distinction between serfs and slaves-to increase the number of individuals whom this tax could charge

• To extract resources from the landed class-developed the Table of Ranks (hierarchal system of service)

Education

• Westernized education in Russia• Mandatory education for children of nobles• Introduction to academic specialization• Creation of the Russian Academy of Sciences• Encouraged changes in dress, behavior, and

interaction with each other; including incorporation of women in public roles

Problems with Reforms

• Size of country made it difficult to enforce policies

• Reforms were met with resistance from conservative forces in the nobility, the Orthodox Church, and general population

• State remained weak, corruption of officials• Class divisions widened due to reforms-

creating a duel culture in imperial Russia

Russia After the Death of Peter the Great

• Peter died in 1725• Only son was Alexei, had been ignored by his father

and grew to hate him• Gave up birth rights and fled Russia, but came back

in 1718• Plot to dispose his father, but failed• Died while waiting in execution in 1718• Peter died without naming a successor

• 4 decade intercession between Peter the Great and Catherine the Great

• Lots of familial in fighting and frequent wars• 37 years Russia had 6 rulers• Peter the II marked the end of the Romanov line• Ivan the VI jailed as an infant and died in prison• Elizabeth led the infant tsar; Peter II assassinated after the

throne

5 conflicts

• Fought in rapid succession from 1733 to 1763• With Austria against France 1733-35• Against Turkey 1736-39• Against Sweden 1741-43• War against Austrian Succession 1746-48• With austria, France, Sweden and Saxony

against Prussia, Britain, and Hanover in the Seven Years’ War 1756-63

• Societal reforms progressed haltingly and intermittently, depended on whims of the leader

• Gap between the wealthy and the poor was increased significantly during this period

• Power and wealth of the landed gentry was solidified and expanded with gifts of land

• Serfdom was solidified during this period• Edicts were issued keeping peasants from improving their

conditions through the Table of the Ranks, also stripped rights to hold property and gave masters complete submission over them.

• Nobles were not permitted from killing peasants• Russia needed stability and leadership; came with Catherine II

in July 1762