Peter the Great (Lancaster Pamphlet)

95 Pages·1993·1.513 MB·English

by  Stephen J. Lee

IN THE SAME SERIES
General Editors: Eric J. Evans and P. D. King
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Michael Mullett The Counter-Reformation
Michael Mullett Luther
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Michael J. Winstanley Gladstone and the Liberal Party
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LANCASTER PAMPHLETS
Peter the Great
Stephen J. Lee
London and New York
For Max and Joan
First published 1993
by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001
© 1993 Stephen J. Lee
Typeset in 10/12pt Bembo by
Ponting-Green Publishing Services, Chesham, Bucks
Printed in Great Britain by
T. J. Press (Padstow) Ltd., Padstow, Cornwall
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted
or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter
invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Lee, Stephen J.
Peter the Great / Stephen J. Lee.
p. cm. - (Lancaster pamphlets)
Includes bibliographical references
1. Russia - History - Peter I, 1689-1725
I. Title. II. Series
DK131.L44 1993
947'.05'092 - dc20 92-44016 CIP
ISBN 0-415-09279-5 (pbk)
058985
Contents
Foreword vii
Illustrations viii
Chronological outline of the reign of Peter the Great ix
1 The setting 1
The approach: an explanation 1
The reign: an outline 3
The personality 6
2 War, conquest and diplomacy 12
Russia before Peter the Great: expansion and stagnation 12
Objective factors favouring further Russian expansion 15
The priorities of Peter the Great 17
The conflict with Sweden 1700-21 18
The conflict with the Ottoman Empire 24
Russian expansion in Asia during Peter’s reign 29
Russian diplomacy and the great powers 31
3 Peter the Great's internal reforms 37
An introductory analysis and historiography 37
The army 40
The navy 43
Central government 44
Local government and the judiciary 51
The economy 54
v
Society, nobility and peasantry 58
Religion and the Church 61
Culture 64
Education 66
Peter the Great’s internal reforms: a synthesis 67
4 Peter 'the Great9? 71
Select bibliography 77
Foreword
Lancaster Pamphlets offer concise and up-to-date accounts of
major historical topics, primarily for the help of students
preparing for Advanced Level examinations, though they should
also be of value to those pursuing introductory courses in
universities and other institutions of higher education. Without
being all-embracing, their aims are to bring some of the central
themes of problems confronting students and teachers into
sharper focus than the textbook writer can hope to do; to
provide the reader with some of the results of recent research
which the textbook may not embody; and to stimulate thought
about the whole interpretation of the topic under discussion.
vii
Illustrations
Maps
1 The expansion of Russia under Peter the Great in historical
perspective 14
2 Peter the Great at war 20
3 Europe at war during the reign of Peter the Great 34
Figures
1 The Romanovs 1613-1917 4
2 The power of Peter the Great after his reforms 53
Plates: images of Peter the Great
1 Portrait of Peter the Great by Sir Godfrey Kneller, 1698
2 Engraving of Peter the Great by W. Faithorne, 1698
3 Portrait of Peter the Great (Russian school, first half of the
eighteenth century)
4 Bronze bust of Peter the Great by Carlo Rastrelli, 1723-9
5 Portrait of Peter the Great by Carl Moor, 1717
6 Wax figure made in 1725 after Rastrelli’s bust
7 Peter the Great founding St Petersburg. Gravure after
A. V. Kotzebue
8 Peter the Great and the building of St Petersburg by V. Serov,
1907
viii
Chronological outline of the reign of
Peter the Great
1682 Peter I and Ivan V proclaimed joint-Tsars
1692 Russian embassy to Peking
Establishment of Most Drunken Synod of Fools
and Jesters
1695 First attempt to capture Azov
1696 Death of Ivan V
Second and successful attempt to capture Azov
1697 Accession of Charles XII to the Swedish throne
1697-8 Great Embassy to western Europe
1698 Suppression of Streltsy revolt
1700 Peace with Ottoman Empire
Outbreak o.f war with Sweden
Russian defeat at Narva
Monasteries placed under control of Monastery prikaz
1701 Establishment of School of Mathematics and
Navigation
1703 Foundation of St Petersburg
1705 Establishment of Gluck Gymnasium
1707 Invasion of Russia by Charles XII
1708-10 Division of Russia into eight provinces (gubernii)
1709 Russian victory at Poltava
ix
1711 Russia at war with Turkey
Russian defeat at the Pruth
Establishment of the Senate
1712 Establishment of Engineering Academy
1713 Peace with the Ottoman Empire
End of the War of the Spanish Succession
1713-14 Russian occupation of Finland
1714 Russian naval victory at Cape Hango
1715 Establishment of Naval Academy
1716 Military Statute
Establishment of School of Mines
1716-17 Cherkassky’s expedition to Khiva
1717 Peter’s second visit to western Europe
Russian withdrawal from Mecklenburg-Schwerin
Treaty of Amsterdam (Russia, Prussia, France)
1718 Establishment of colleges (kollegii)
Introduction of soul tax
Death of Peter’s son, Alexis
1719 Second Russian embassy to Peking
Reform of local government (gubernii, provintsii, uezd)
1720 General Regulation defining administrative procedures
1721 Treaty of Nystadt with Sweden
Establishment of the Synod
Peter proclaimed ‘Emperor’ and ‘The Great’
Entire administrative system brought under the Senate
Introduction of the post of Generalprokuror of
the Senate
1722 Introduction of Table of Ranks
War with Persia
1723 Russian capture of Baku and Resht from Persia
1724 Establishment of Academy of Sciences
1725 Death of Peter the Great
X
1
The setting
The approach: an explanation
This pamphlet examines the contribution of Peter I (1682-1725)
to the development of Russia. It considers the relationship
between the man and the environment in which he lived - and
the extent to which each of these influenced the other. Because
of the sheer power of his personality, Peter has been the subject
of numerous studies and it would be as well at the outset to
establish the basic approach to be taken here.
One possibility would be to accept the emphasis, common to
the nineteenth century, on the overriding importance of great
men in determining events. The Russian historian, Soloviev
(1820-79), argued that Peter was personally responsible for
directing the evolution of Russia into an entirely new channel of
his own devising, for which he can justly be called ‘the greatest
leader of history, for no one can claim a place of higher
significance in the history of civilization’ (Raeff 1963: p. 82).
This approach, however, ascribes too much importance to
personal influence and fails to acknowledge that leaders can also
be creatures of circumstances or that at least some of their work
withers away after their death.
At the opposite extreme is the Marxist conception of history
as the inexorable working through of economic forces in the
form of class conflict, the agents of which are the great men
1