Peter the Great in the spotlight of the Presidential Library’s collections: “There was no other tsar like him in the chronicles of the whole world”

June 9, 2019 marks the 347th anniversary of the birth of the first Russian emperor, tsar-reformer Peter I. One of the sections of the extensive electronic collection “The House of Romanov. The Zemsky Sobor of 1613”, which is available on the Presidential Library’s portal, highlights the reformer of Russia and the founder of St. Petersburg. It includes historical documents, monarch’s business and personal correspondence, studies focused on him, bibliography and many other materials. The large collection dedicated to Peter the Great features such publications as: Memorable Stories About the Life and Activities of Peter the Great: 1672–1725, Peter the Great, the Last Tsar of Moscow and the First Emperor of All-Russia, In St. Petersburg During the Reign of Peter the Great and other old folios.

Peter I was born in 1672. At the age of 10 he was proclaimed tsar, however it was in 1689 that he began to rule independently. The childhood and youth of the future emperor are described in detail in the publications entitled The Sketch of the Life of the First Emperor of All-Russia (1872) authored by P. Petrov and Memorable Stories About the Life and Activities of Peter the Great: 1672–1725 by M. I. Semevsky. 

Children's games aroused Peter’s interest in military matters and laid the foundation for the formation of the Russian army — which was at first a toy army (amusement or fun troops) intended for the entertainment of tsarevich, and then became regular and well-trained. Two regiments – Semyonovsky and Preobrazhensky, which became the beginnings of the Guard, are described in the publication under the title The History of Peter the Great (with 19 drawings)  (1872).

Peter became the first Russian tsar, who made a long journey across the countries of Western Europe. Upon his return to homeland in 1698, Peter carried out large-scale reforms of the Russian state and social order. The book In Petersburg During the Reign of Peter the Great (1910) reads in part that “he returned to Moscow with a strong determination to re-build the fatherland following the Western European model”.

It was then that he got the idea of ​​free access to the sea and foundation of a new capital of Russia. St. Petersburg was founded in 1703. Having conquered the Neva delta, which was under the control of the Swedes, “of all the islands scattered in the Neva River Peter chose Zayachy Island (Hare Island) for it was higher up and more convenient. The beginning of the city’s construction is presented in the publication Stories About Peter the Great  (1872) by V. Sorokin. The tsar’s lively and vigorous nature never tolerated slowness in anything, particularly here: the dream came true - the appropriate place was found ... It was time to build a city there, sail the ships to the Neva, welcome foreign ships, develop trade with the Dutch, the Danes and the British and with the whole world!

The tsar was often seen with an ax in his hands at a construction site of a new house, or at a shipyard, where a new ship was built. “Peter - a worker, Peter with calluses on his hands — this is the personification of the entire Russian people during the so-called epoch of reforms...”, the book Peter the Great (1898) by S. V. Solovyov reads. - He devoted himself to the cause and relentlessly demanded the same of everyone - either workers or the leading figures of the state”.

The Presidential Library’s portal provides access to a multivolume work under the title History of the Reign of Peter the Great, authored by one of the greatest Russian historians N. G. Ustryalov, which took him 23 years to complete. It contains interesting details about the life and activities of the tsar-reformer. The author states that he "tried to give an accurate portrayal of Peter, without hiding his weaknesses or attributing incredible merits to him, in the fullness of his undoubted greatness”.

‘Greatness’ is the word that most accurately describes the personality of Peter I. The Sketch of the Life of the First Emperor of All-Russia by P. Petrov reads in part: “There was no other tsar like him in the chronicles of the whole world. Nobody could be compared to him in terms of far-sightedness and brilliant mind”.