There are those who say mad emperor and those who say genius: Who is Peter the Great

Petro Alekseyevich Romanov was born on June 9, 1672. He is the son of Tsar Alexei (I) and his second wife, Natalya Narishkina.

He did not leave an heir to the throne before his father died; For this reason, the struggle for the throne begins between the Miloslavskis and the Narishkins, the most important and powerful families of the period. The Narishkins won the struggle and declared Peter the tsar in 1682 when he was only ten years old.

Since Petro was still a child, his mother, Natalya Narishkina, was appointed regent for him. However, the rebellious army under the leadership of his half-sister Sofia, who does not accept Peter's tsarism, seizes the government. By winning the majority in the assembly, they declared his weak and sickly older brother Ivan (V) tsar and neutralized Petro. Ivan's regent is also appointed sister Sofia; In fact, the most powerful figure of this period is Sofia's lover, Vasiliy Vasilyevich Golitsin, the chief advisor.

When Peter abdicates, he lives with his mother in the German quarter set up outside of Moscow. In fact, this neighborhood will have a very important place in Petro's later successful reform attempts. Because many of the friends he met here were European; thus, he had the opportunity to listen to many parts of Europe from his friends when he was still a child. In the meantime, even though he married Evdokya, a very religious girl, in 1689 at his mother's request, there would always be a coldness between them.

The older sister Sofia, together with her lover Vasily, ruled Russia between 1682-1689. When Peter turned 17, he rebelled against his sister and claimed the throne, and took it back. When his mother died in 1694, he took over the tsarist power as the sole authority.

Peter knew, just as other tsars knew, that for trade it was necessary to have ports, and for this, it was necessary to go down to warm seas. For this reason, he decides to take the Azak Castle, which is the guard of the Ottoman Empire in the Black Sea, as the first thing. Although he tried to take the castle with a sudden raid in 1695, he could not succeed because he lacked the navy. Petro had a large shipyard built in Voronezh on the Don coast to compensate for the lack of navy; Here he built large ships and attacked the castle again. Takes the castle on 6 August 1696; Thus, Russia reaches the Black Sea for the first time.

Petro realizes the project of sending selected young people from noble families to England, Italy, and the Netherlands for education. Thus, it aims to instantly learn the technology and thought developing in Europe and apply it in its country. Interestingly, he went to the Netherlands and England, respectively, starting from Germany under the pseudonym Petro Mihaylov, hiding his identity in 1697 for his naval training (he will always do this). He not only travels but also improves himself by working in shipyards. He returns to Moscow due to the uprising of the Streltsy (an army similar to the Ottoman Janissaries) with the aim of bringing his older sister Sofia back to power; executes or exiles all soldiers and supporters involved in the uprising.

Petro aimed to reach the shores of the Baltic Sea in the northwest and open Russia to world countries from both sides. For this reason, he declared war on Sweden, one of the most powerful states of the period. Unsuccessful, Petro modernizes it again when he sees that his army is insufficient. In 1709, Sweden besieged Poltova Castle, which is of great strategic importance for Russia, but the king was wounded a few days before the battle and was defeated by not managing the war well. Later, the Swedish king Karl XII, who will be named Fixture Charl, is injured and forced to take refuge in Ottoman lands with his entourage; With the letters he sent to Istanbul, he caused the Ottomans to be included in the war.

The Ottoman army under the command of Grand Vizier Baltacı Mehmet Pasha surrounded the army of Peter the First on the banks of the Prut River (Prut War) on July 18, 1711. The Tsar and his army now have nowhere to flee; Peter is in a state of not knowing what to do. Since the Ottoman army was outnumbered and besieged from all sides, his advisers told the Tsar that there was no other choice but to ask for peace, and that whatever the Ottomans wanted should be given. In addition, the supply problem of the Russian army is at its peak; It is rumored that on the second day of the siege, the soldiers began to eat tree bark. When Baltacı Mehmet Pasha saw that Azak Castle and many other castles would be returned at the end of the negotiations, he accepted the peace (Prut Treaty). When the Swedish King Karl XII learned that peace would be made and Peter would be released, he hurriedly came to the Ottoman camp, but he could not reach the Prut Treaty. Baltacı Mehmet Pasha, who asks the King of Sweden why he left the Tsar instead of capturing him, will say that peace conditions are profitable for the Ottoman Empire and that it is not appropriate to attack an enemy begging for peace.

The settlements were also important on the basis of Peter's idea of creating a European Russia. For this purpose, he would start building a unique city by rehabilitating the Neva Delta. Thousands of workers work to rehabilitate the river, and buildings are built on the banks of the river, just like the palaces in France and Germany. European masters and architects take part in the construction, and Petro works with the workers. A magnificent winter palace was built to rival Versailles in France, which is used as the Hermitage Museum today. This magnificent city, namely St Petersburg, became the capital of the Russian Empire in 1712.

After signing the Prut Treaty, Petro does not fulfill the terms of the treaty. Upon the decision of the Ottoman Sultan Ahmed III to move from Istanbul to Edirne by taking the decision of an expedition, Petro was worried and sent a letter of apology and demanded that the negotiations begin immediately. At the end of the negotiations held in Edirne, with the Edirne Treaty signed on June 24, 1713, the disagreements between the two sides were temporarily suspended.

After the Treaty of Edirne, Peter gives his full attention to the Swedish kingdom again. The Russian navy achieved success in a naval war for the first time in 1714, making its influence felt in the sea in the north. When the Swedish King, Fixture Karl, died in 1718, an agreement was made with Sweden and because of his success in the agreement, Petro was given the title of Great and Emperor.

Peter the Great is a massive man, two meters tall, but disproportionately built with narrow shoulders, short arms and a small head, small hands, and feet. Sometimes he stumbles and stumbles while walking; especially when he drinks excessively (becomes addicted to wine at age 16 and this addiction gets worse over time). He has tics on his face that he cannot prevent; especially when he gets angry, his head starts to shake, and contractions occur on his face.

The Danish ambassador Yust Yul relates: “The Tsar grimaced, turned his head, turned his mouth, averted his eyes, twitched his arms and shoulders, and shook his legs back and forth. He would involuntarily push the fork and knife in his hand at the table to his face, leaving those around him in fear that he would hurt his face.”

In terms of temperament, he is quite nervous, even to the point of being frightened. His generosity is legendary, and so is his cruelty. It is known that he carried out the executions by pushing the executioner aside several times in public executions in 1698 and 1699, taking the ax in his hand. So much so that in 1718, he left someone who was horribly tortured alive, so that he could be tortured a little more and die slowly in pain.

Under the influence of unpleasant news or some external stimulus, sometimes for no apparent reason, Peter the Great's tantrums could break out. Only one person would cure the emperor's tantrums; his wife, the future Tsarina Catherine. Witnessing this, Henning-Friedrich Bassevich writes in his memoirs: “Katerina's voice calmed Peter. He sat her down and patted her lightly scratched head, this had a magical effect on her, he fell asleep in a matter of minutes. In order not to disturb his sleep, Katerina rested his head on her chest and sat motionless for two or three hours. Then the Tsar awoke cheerfully.”

Some historians write that Katerina was not beautiful even in her youth. He writes that she is short, rather overweight, lacks masculine features and grace, and that she has a unique beauty. She becomes Peter's mistress first, then his wife, and when he dies, she becomes a tsarina.

There are many paintings depicting Peter dressed in fancy clothes. However, there are more pictures showing them badly dressed and with toes protruding from the ends, with socks that are said to have been patched by themselves. Peter liked to be accompanied by ordinary people and identified himself with the Russian people. Already his second wife, Katerina (her real name is Marta Elena Skavronska), was a Latvian peasant and maid. Petro enjoyed walking and did not want to get into the car. He would not get into the carriage with a better-dressed driver than he and his guards.

He doesn't care about carefully planned seating plans at dinners; He would move from table to table and eat his food standing up. He didn't like sitting very much because he had back pain, and he used to walk around. When he needed to stay somewhere, he preferred to stay in a simple village house. One of the things he always did when he went on trips abroad was to use a fake name.

Peter the Great had a great interest in science. On his first trip to Europe alone, he visited all the botanical parks and drew sketches of what he saw. Interested in mathematics and geography, hence maps and map making; He has an intellectual curiosity of his own.

He learns to use all weapons by fighting among privates before being promoted to officer. As a self-taught person, Petro is familiar with other languages besides learning Dutch and German. Even during the war to take the Azov Castle from the Ottomans in 1696, he continued to learn Dutch. He is a master of 20 different crafts, from shoemaking to shipbuilding. Most importantly, he goes to Western Europe to see what he can get from the West in terms of technology, industry, trade, culture, art, and manners, which no Russian had done before; On one of these trips, he learns carpentry very seriously. He goes to the Medical School in Leiden, the Netherlands; because he wants to see how the human body is dissected and examined.

He has a passion for fireworks, explosives, and artillery. He plays drums, loves to dance, and sings religious songs. He enjoys playing chess and billiards. Likes mathematical instruments and telescopes; He even took a telescope with him wherever he went. During Peter's reign, 100 times more books, manuals, printed materials, and maps were produced in Russia than in the previous century.

Peter encourages his people to dress and act like Westerners. He orders his people to shave off the traditional Russian-Orthodox beard, but this does not stay with him; The fact that he personally applied this edict on the streets with the razor he held in his hand was one of the first indicators of the policy this giant tsar would follow with his height exceeding two meters.

Petro wants upper-class women to dress as they do in Europe. At that time, when the beard meant a lot in terms of religion, he told men to cut their beards. Naturally, religious leaders disliked Peter for introducing foreign elements into Russian culture.

Peter not only deals with the outward appearance of the people but also makes administrative, religious, financial, and military reforms that will enable his country to undergo a permanent transformation. For example, the navy he created from scratch made his country, which does not even have a trading port other than Arhangelsk on the Arctic Ocean, one of the important naval powers of Europe. Again, he removed the Streltsys, similar to the Janissaries of the Ottoman Empire, and instead established an army suitable for the requirements of the age.

The Academy of Sciences made many innovations that would remain valid until the collapse of the empire in 1917, from many institutions such as the merit system that neutralized the aristocracy in the state, the Holy Synod instead of the patriarchate in the church (the 12-person assembly where religious issues were discussed) to the policy of going to warm seas. The city of St. Petersburg, which he built from scratch on the swampy land on the Baltic Sea, is perhaps his most enduring work, still arousing admiration today.

Peter the Great tried to make Russia a secular state; He made efforts to establish industry and production in his country and has worked to ensure that it does not fall behind in the fields of culture and science and that it becomes a large and powerful country.

Those who criticize him write that he dragged the Russian people towards heavy feudalism with the decisions and orders he took for the people. In this period in Europe, while the workers won their rights and started to form the middle class, the Russian people were almost enslaved. Major projects such as the establishment of the Russian Naval Fleet, the Northern Military Campaign, and the construction of St. Petersburg cost a lot of money and human resources, and this burden was placed on the shoulders of the people. The desire to establish a permanent army also made the life of the people difficult.

Peter the Great's ambition to Europeanize Russia was huge, but it was very superficial. On the other hand, Russia's highly educated ruling stratum has been completely cut off from the national culture. Thus, in a sense, the first seeds of the October Revolution, which would take place in 1917, were planted.

Although 2 sons were born to his first wife, Evdokya Lopuksina, one of them dies at a young age. Petro wants to leave her and marry Katerina. For this, he takes the church with him and places Evdokya (despite all his objections) in a monastery.

Son Alexis, who was born in Evdokya, does not like to do military service, he is a lazy person. In a letter to his son in 1704 he wrote: “Tomorrow I may die; but if you don't take me as an example and follow me, you will have little pleasure. You should love everything that will contribute to the honor and glory of the homeland. You must love your faithful advisers and officers; whether they are foreigners or our own people, it does not matter; do your best for the common good.”

The son sided with his mother during the divorce; because he hates his father's second wife (Katerina). Not only that, he cooperates with opposing families and plots against his father in various ways. He tries to get the support of the Austrian Emperor to fight against the Tsar. It's a lousy idea; Petro is on one of his trips and returns to Russia. He orders his only son to be tortured. Alexis probably dies not from torture, but from the cold in her icy cell.

Although 11 children of Petro and Katerina were born, 9 of them died at a young age; Their daughters, Yelizaveta, who would later become tsarina, and Anna Petrovna survive.

Peter and Katerina, 12 years younger than him, met in 1703 and got married in 1712. She is a brave woman; Katerina, who the Tsar often takes on travels, does not object to this situation even when she is pregnant. During the Siege of Pruth, he refuses to leave the Tsar and retreats to safety.

Katerina silently endures Petro's numerous mistresses for many years. Willie Mons, brother of Peter's first mistress, Anna Mons, became the tsar's deputy in 1716. It is unknown whether it started that year or earlier, but Katerina and Willie Mons' love affair is revealed in 1724. As a formality, Mons is accused of bribery and sentenced to death. It is said that after the execution on 16 November 1724, the Tsar presented his lover's head to his wife on a platter. Petro learns that his mistress, Anna Mons, is also his lover; strangely found dead in the Neva River, his mistress' lover.

After this incident, Petro blocks Katerina's access to the money; financially very difficult. Katerina takes advantage of the influence of their daughter, Yelizaveta, over her father, and in early January 1725, Peter agrees to reconciliation. Witnesses to the event describe: “Katerina knelt before the Tsar for a long time and begged forgiveness for all her wrongdoings; The conversation lasted more than three hours, after which they had dinner together and left.”

Although Peter had problems with the urinary tract and bladder since 1723, no one predicted that he would die a month after reconciling with his wife. He died on February 8, 1725. On the last day he will leave this world, he asks that a blackboard be brought to him for his will; “Give everything back” would be the last sentence he wrote exhausted from illness.