Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
still living in the dark ages. He vowed to replace superstition with science, backward-
ness with progress, East with West.
Peter abruptly ended his European expedition when news came of a Kremlin coup.
His claim to the throne was illegitimate, some whispered. After his father died, the
families of the two tsarinas had clashed over the royal legacy: the Miloslavsky clan
claimed lineage back to Ivan and represented the best of old Muscovy, while the up-
start Naryshkins were of recent Tatar and distant Scottish bloodlines. When he was
only 10 years old, Peter watched in horror as his uncle was murdered by a Moscow
mob, stirred by family rivalry. Eventually, a joint settlement was reached by which the
boy shared the throne with his dim-witted half-brother, while his ambitious older step-
sister acted as regent. In 1689, at the age of 17, Peter was ready: he consigned his
stepsister to a nunnery and declared himself tsar. Old Muscovy's resentment of this
act prompted the coup, which now brought Peter back from Europe.
For a great biography of the man himself, pick up a copy of Lindsey
Hughes'
Peter the Great: A Biography.
Never pulling punches in her de-
tailed retelling of his less-than-laudable personal life and his often barbaric
childishness, Hughes manages to present both the genius and failings of
Peter I.
Enough was enough. Peter began to impose his strong will on Russia. He venge-
fully punished the plotters, sending more than 1000 to their death and instilling fear in
many thousands. He humiliated and subdued the old elite, forcing aristocrat elders to
shave their beards and wear Western clothes. He subordinated the Orthodox Church to
earthly political authority, and banished Old Believers who cursed him as the Anti-
christ. He upended the established social order, forbidding arranged marriages and
promoting the humble to high rank. He even changed the date of New Year's Day -
from September to January. By now, the undisputed tsar had grown to despise the old
capital, and was ready to start afresh.
The Great Northern War
Peter was anxious to turn Russia westward and he saw the Baltic Sea as the channel
for change. The problem was that Sweden already dominated the region. It had been
