The Presidential Library spotlights the beginning of Peter I’s reign

340 years ago, on May 7 (April 27), 1682, a significant event took place in the history of Russia. On this day, after the death of Tsar Feodor III Alekseevich, the succession to the throne was transferred to the ten-year-old Peter, the future commander and reformer of the Russian Empire.

The beginning of Peter's reign was fraught with difficulties. Firstly, he was only ten years old, and secondly, he had a rival - half-brother John, who was older than Peter - he was fifteen years old, and according to the law, he should be the one to take the throne. But John was in poor health and could not rule the country in the future. This is how Veniamin Bergman, whose book The History of Peter the Great is available in the Presidential Library, writes about this day: “On this day, April 27, Peter was elected by the people, and ... they swore allegiance to him on the very day of his election to the tsardom on the day of the death of Feodor Alekseevich. The weak John Alekseevich was bypassed because the healthy build of his brother gives great promise”.

So that later the country would be ruled by a healthy, strong and inquisitive Peter, a “Solomonic decision” to make a double throne, intended for both Peter and his brother John. Was made On one side, a window was cut into the back of the throne, which was closed with a curtain. This time is called the era of the two tsardoms.

To "supervise" the minor heirs to the throne, a regent was needed, who would temporarily rule the state until they grew up. The role of regent was taken over by Tsarevna Sofya Alekseevna. Through the window in the throne, she and her confidants prompted the young tsars the necessary words and corrected their behavior during receptions.

However, in fact, at this age, Peter was aloof from the affairs of the court, and his inquisitive mind diligently absorbed book sciences - he studied history, arithmetic, geometry as well as military crafts. The imagination of young Peter was captivated by the images of the generals Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar, Emperor Constantine the Great, under whose care the capital was transferred from Rome to Constantinople and Christianity became the official religion. The idea of ​​great deeds, historical examples of strong will and strength of mind were the driving force for his subsequent transformations.

May 7 (April 27), 1682 is the official date of the beginning of the reign of Peter I. In fact, independent rule began in 1694 when he was 22 years old. By this time, Princess Sofya had been overthrown, and his mother, Natalya Naryshkina, had died.

The whole life of Peter I is now subordinated to the interests of Russia. He seeks to bring the country "out of oblivion" and strengthen statehood, build a powerful state, standing on the same level with the strongest states of Europe. One of the first reforms of Peter I was the military reform. Among the many materials devoted to the peculiarities of the military reform, the Presidential Library provides a video of a lecture by Candidate of Historical Sciences N. G. Rogulin, which tells about the maritime charter of Peter the Great and the military legislation of that time. The sovereign and commander saw his task in foreign policy in strengthening and expanding the borders of the Tsardom of Russia and then the Russian Empire.

In the future, starting from the alphabet and the civil service, in which the concept of "official" is introduced, there was practically no area that was not touched by the reforms of Peter I.

Many of his transformations were abolished by time. But most of the innovations are rooted in Russian history. At present, there is the regular army and the prosecutor's office as well as public theaters, the Academy of Sciences and the Kunstkamera, which stores Peter I's personal collections of anatomy and zoology. There are about 50 cities formed under Peter I - St. Petersburg and Lodeinoye Pole, Sestroretsk and Peterhof, Omsk, Perm, Lipetsk, Biysk, etc. After the decree of Emperor Peter I of December 19 (29), 1699, to this day the Julian calendar, which counts from the birth of Christ, is used.

The Presidential Library features rare materials related to the life and career of Peter I. There are monographs, graphic materials, original documents that give an idea of ​​the scale of the personality of the first Emperor of All Russia, whose transformations more than once gave rise to protests and riots during his reign. A lot of controversy and ambiguous assessments around the meaning and methods of his reforms arise to this day. He himself explained his rule in a famous speech to the Assembly on September 28 (October 11), 1714.