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brother, Petr Matveevich (1659-1728), was also
a close adviser to Peter the Great. As governor of
KAZAN
(1708-13), he directed the incorporation
of the Kalmyks of the Caspian Sea area into Rus-
sia. Accused of complicity with Peter's son Alexis
in the alleged plot against his father, Apraksin
was acquitted but was asked to serve on the
council that sentenced Alexis to death.
cheev lost his political influence, and the military
colonies were dissolved during
NICHOLAS I
's reign
because of corruption and their extreme unpop-
ularity among peasants. Arakcheev's health dete-
riorated dramatically after his serfs killed his
mistress in September 1825, but he lived for
almost another decade.
Archangel
(Arkhangelsk)
Although remotely located and icebound during
the winter months, the city of Archangel was the
main Russian seaport from its founding in 1584
until the emergence of
ST
.
PETERSBURG
in 1703.
Archangel is located on the Northern Dvina
River, about 30 miles from where it empties into
the White Sea. The city's growth was directly
connected to the arrival of the English explorer
Richard Chancellor in 1553 and the establish-
ment of commercial relations between England
and Russia two years later. Initially known as
Novo-Kholmogory and renamed Arkhangelsk in
1613 in honor of the Archangel Michael, it grew
up around a 12th-century monastery, benefiting
from its monopoly on Muscovite trade with
England. During
IVAN IV
's reign of terror, his polit-
ical police, the
oprichnina
drew financial suste-
nance for its terror campaigns from its control of
the valuable route connecting Archangel with
central Russia. Until 1702 Archangel was the
administrative center for Russia's northern terri-
tories, but its importance as a northern trade
route diminished considerably over the next two
centuries after the foundation of St. Petersburg.
The completion of a rail link with
MOSCOW
in the
late 19th century helped revive its trade. Arch-
angel again drew attention during the Russian
civil war when British and American troops
occupied the city in 1918-19, initially to prevent
Germany from seizing war matériel, but later—
particularly in the case of the British—to assist in
the effort to overthrow the
BOLSHEVIKS
. In this
they supported the short-lived anti-Bolshevik
government set up by the elderly former populist
revolutionary Nikolai
CHAIKOVSKY
. The city's geo-
graphical location again proved important during
World War II, when, with Leningrad (St. Peters-
Arakcheev, Aleksei Andreevich
(1769-1834)
general and statesman
A conservative, disciplinarian adviser to Emper-
ors
PAUL I
and
ALEXANDER I
, Arakcheev is most
renowned for the notorious and failed experi-
ment of the “military colonies,” implemented
during Alexander's reign. In 1792, Arakcheev
first impressed the future Paul I, Catherine the
Great's son, as an exacting drillmaster and joined
the garrison at Gachina, Paul's favorite residence.
Under Arakcheev and Paul, Gachina resembled
Prussian-style military camp. In 1796, Paul, now
emperor, rewarded Arakcheev with an estate at
Gruzino and made him governor of St. Peters-
burg. Their professional relationship was a
stormy one. In 1798, Paul dismissed Arakcheev,
appointed him inspector general of artillery, only
to dismiss him again in 1799. The new emperor,
Alexander I, reappointed him to the same posi-
tion in 1803. Although he had not distinguished
himself during the Napoleonic Wars, Arakcheev
served as minister of war (1808-10). If the first
part of Alexander's reign is associated with the
failed liberal reformism of Mikhail
SPERANSKII
,
the second part belongs to Arakcheev. From 1815
he was virtually the most powerful man in Rus-
sia after the czar, especially during his frequent
trips abroad. He convinced Alexander of the need
to establish “military colonies” on a nationwide
basis, modeled after Arakcheev's own Gruzino
estate, featuring uniformed soldier-peasants sub-
jected to regimented work details, welfare ser-
vices, and individual punishment books to track
offenses. By the early 1820s close to 750,000
peasants were part of these military colonies.
With the death of Alexander I in 1825, Arak-
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