The Presidential Library’s rare items illustrate Peter the Great. “He is the greatest phenomenon in the history of all mankind”

June 9 (May 30, old style) 2020 marks 348 years since the birth of Peter Romanov, the last Russian Tsar and the first Russian Emperor Peter I, nicknamed the Great.

“At five o’clock in the morning on May 30, 1672, on the day of Isaac Dalmatsky, the ringing of bells in all the churches of Moscow announced a “world joy”, as they used to say: Tsarina Natalya Kirillovna, the second wife of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, gave birth to a son named in the baptism Peter", - says the writer Elizabeth Razina about this day in the historical essay "The First Worker of the Russian Land" (1913), available on the Presidential Library’s portal, as well as numerous other publications dedicated to the great reformer.

The digital collection The House of Romanov. The Zemsky Sobor 1613 includes an extensive collection of Peter I (1672–1725), which includes both voluminous works and small studies devoted to the emperor, his correspondence, authentic historical documents, biographical and pictorial materials.

The path to the throne of Peter of the 14th of the children of Tsar Alexei and the youngest of his heirs was not easy. After the Moscow uprising and the palace coup in 1682, Peter shared power with his older half-brother Ivan V of the Miloslavsky clan under the regency of Princess Sophia. Peter and his mother, Natalya Naryshkina, had to live in the village of Preobrazhensky, and only after the death of Ivan in 1696 did he become the sovereign ruler.

The young tsar was obliged by his education to a greater extent not to teachers and mentors, but to his own curiosity, craving for knowledge and curiosity according to Professor Alexander Brickner in the book The History of Peter the Great (1882).

Interested in the design and work of the astrolabe brought to him from abroad, Peter turned for clarification to the Dutch merchant Franz Timmermann, who became his teacher in geometry, arithmetic, artillery and fortification. Alexander Brikner further quotes Baron Keller: Peter “...develops very successfully, he is of high growth and keeps himself well; his mental abilities are wonderful; everyone loves him. He pays special attention to military affairs...".

In 1687, Peter created the amusing Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky regiments, which later became the basis of the Russian regular army. While walking in Izmailovo, he found an old English boat in the barn, asked him to repair it and put it on the water. “The trips began, first along the Yauza River, then on Prosyany Pond, finally on Pereyaslav Lake, and then there was already a desire to see the sea”, - continues Brickner.

Peter gave a lot of his overseas travel in 1697–1698, when he studied artillery in Königsberg, shipbuilding in England and worked as a carpenter in Amsterdam shipyards.

Peter the Great remained in history as a reformer ruler. His transformations, preserving the social system as a whole, overcame the backwardness of Russia from Western European countries and strengthened its influence on international politics and the economy. According to the historian Nikolai Firsov in a public lecture “Peter the Great as a Master” (1903), the emperor “... throughout his reign sought to create conditions for Russia under which it could move forward as soon as possible and further along the path of economic development”. 

Peter I perfectly understood the way to create these favorable conditions. It consists "... in the development of trade and industry, in improving the means of communication and in the proper manner of trial and punishment", said the writer Peter Petrov in the book Peter the Great (1872).

Moreover, according to Academician Jacob Grot noted in his speech “Peter the Great as the Educator of Russia” (1872), “he could not distribute trade without acquiring ports, and he could not acquire ports without war: therefore, regular troops to defend the state and to spread borders they were necessary to the sea”. Thanks to the active foreign policy of Emperor Peter, new sea borders of the state were established.

The Azov campaigns of 1695–1696 gave Russia access to the Azov and Black Seas. As a result of the successful completion of the lengthy Northern War (1700–1721), lands were recaptured along the banks of the Neva, in Karelia and the Baltic, previously captured by Sweden, and access to the Baltic Sea was secured. After the Persian campaign of 1722-1723, Russia received the western coast of the Caspian Sea. Thus, Peter the Great accomplished his “...desire to inculcate industrial and commercial activity in the poor agricultural state, to approach the sea directly, to involve the Russian people in the navigational activities of the peoples of Europe, who became rich and developed mentally”, - wrote military lawyer and historian Pavel Bobrovsky in the article “Peter the Great, as a military legislator” (1887).

The internal life of the country has also undergone significant changes in all areas. St. Petersburg was founded in 1703 as the new capital of Russia. The Senate - the highest body of state power, and the Theological Collegium, later renamed the Holy Governing Synod, in the building of which the Presidential Library is now located, were established. Military reform allowed the formation of a regular army and navy on the basis of the "Military Charter" and the "Charter of the sea". Much was done during the reign of Peter in the field of education and culture - the Russian Academy of Sciences, a number of higher educational institutions and secular schools, the first Russian museum were opened.

Academician Sergei Platonov in the book "Peter the Great" (1926) quotes Vissarion Belinsky: "Peter the Great is the greatest phenomenon not only of our history, but the history of all mankind".

February 10 (January 28), 1725, the first Russian emperor died after illness and was buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg.

“But no matter how many centuries have passed, no matter how the historical views on the Petrine reform have changed, no matter what the ideal tasks of life and activity have been for the new generations, one can always learn from Peter V. one thing: to disinterestedly, selflessly, “tirelessly“ work for the common good...”, - said Nikolai Firsov.