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<v Speaker 1>Hello, and Welcome to Western Siev Episode four hundred and

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<v Speaker 1>seventy six Peter the Great. In the depths of a

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<v Speaker 1>wintry Russian morning in sixteen seventy two, a boy was

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<v Speaker 1>born in the Kremlin, a boy that would ultimately drag

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<v Speaker 1>an ancient, semi medieval, i'll say mostly medieval empire kicking

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<v Speaker 1>and screaming into the modern world. His name was Pyotar

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<v Speaker 1>Eskovich Romanov, better known as Peter the Great. He would

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<v Speaker 1>become not only a tzar but a major reformer. He

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<v Speaker 1>was a visionary, he was an autocrat, and sometimes he

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<v Speaker 1>was a tyrant. His reign was long, from sixteen eighty

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<v Speaker 1>two to seventeen twenty five, and he would fundamentally reshape

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<v Speaker 1>Russia's political, military, and cultural life, marking its beginning as

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<v Speaker 1>really a European power. Now. Peter came to the throne

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<v Speaker 1>jointly with his half brother Ivan the Fifth in sixteen

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<v Speaker 1>eighty two, but because they were so young, their sister

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<v Speaker 1>Sophia acted as regent. The child's are was restless and curious,

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<v Speaker 1>with a particular fascination for all things mechanical and all

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<v Speaker 1>things foreign. He spent much of his time not in

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<v Speaker 1>the Kremlin, but in the German Quarter of Moscow, a

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<v Speaker 1>suburb where foreign artisans and merchants lived. There, Peter mingled

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<v Speaker 1>with Dutchmen, Scots and Germans, absorbing their customs, their clothing,

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<v Speaker 1>their language, but most of all, their technology. It was

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<v Speaker 1>there that he first encountered modern Western European military and

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<v Speaker 1>naval practices that would obsess him for the rest of

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<v Speaker 1>his life. He would later rate quote, I am a

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<v Speaker 1>pupil of foreign nations, and he meant that quite literally.

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<v Speaker 1>He learned shipbuilding with his own hands, studied fortification techniques,

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<v Speaker 1>and surrounded himself with foreign advisors. In sixteen ninety seven,

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<v Speaker 1>Peter sent off on an unprecedented diplomatic mission throughout Europe,

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<v Speaker 1>known as the Grand Embassy. Disguised under the name of

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<v Speaker 1>Peter Mikhaeloff, the rather recognizable six foot eight inch tall

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<v Speaker 1>Zar traveled kind of incognito throughout the Netherlands, England and

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<v Speaker 1>part of the Holy Roman Empire. He studied shipbuilding at

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<v Speaker 1>the Dutch East India Company Shopyards in Zandam and in

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<v Speaker 1>Deptford on the Thames. He visited scientifics societies, he hired engineers,

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<v Speaker 1>and he met with monarchs John Evelyn, the English diarist

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<v Speaker 1>described the strange Russian visitor as a quote man of

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<v Speaker 1>genius and uncommon spirit, very understanding and desirous of knowledge

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<v Speaker 1>end quote. But the Tsar's European tour was cut short

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<v Speaker 1>by a rebellion back home. The Streltzi uprising forced him

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<v Speaker 1>to return. What followed was a brutal crackdown. Peter had

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<v Speaker 1>over one thousand of the rebel guards executed, with many

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<v Speaker 1>personally interrogated and tortured by the Tsar himself. Their bodies

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<v Speaker 1>were left on display as a warning. As one foreign

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<v Speaker 1>diplomat right at the time, Moscow became a place of horror,

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<v Speaker 1>a theater of vengeance. Peter returned from the West not

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<v Speaker 1>just with new skills, but with a burning mission to

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<v Speaker 1>reform Russia in its image. At its heart of the

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<v Speaker 1>agenda was a transfer of society, government, and military to

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<v Speaker 1>match what he had seen back in Europe. Peter created

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<v Speaker 1>Russia's first ever standing army and established a modern navy

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<v Speaker 1>from scratch. He conscripted peasants by the tens of thousands

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<v Speaker 1>and hired foreign officers to train them in European tactics.

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<v Speaker 1>In seventeen hundred, he adopted new military regulations based on

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<v Speaker 1>the Swedish and Dutch models, declaring, quote, our armies shall

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<v Speaker 1>march like those of Frederick and Gustavus end quote, referencing

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<v Speaker 1>Gustavus Adolphus we've talked about previously. Naval bases were constructed

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<v Speaker 1>along the Baltic and the new fleet would soon become

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<v Speaker 1>a central tool in Peter's geographical ambitions. In terms of

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<v Speaker 1>administrative overhaul, he literally rewrote the machinery of what would

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<v Speaker 1>become the Russian Empire. When Peter assumed control of the

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<v Speaker 1>Russian state, he inherited a government as cumbersome, medieval, and

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<v Speaker 1>archaic as the empire itself. The Muscovite system had been

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<v Speaker 1>an labyrinth of overlapping Pretzsky bureaucratic departments with relatively hazy

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<v Speaker 1>duties and chronic inefficiencies. Corruption was endemic, local government inconsistent,

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<v Speaker 1>and communication across Russia's vast terrain painfully slow. Peter, ever,

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<v Speaker 1>the impatient engineer, began dismantling and rebuilding the machine with

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<v Speaker 1>methodical force from the word go In seventeen eleven, he

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<v Speaker 1>created the Senate, or more formally, what was called the

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<v Speaker 1>Governing Senate. This was a supervisory governmental organ while he

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<v Speaker 1>was away on his various campaigns. But quickly the governing

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<v Speaker 1>Senate evolved into a permanent executive body, essentially a state

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<v Speaker 1>council for the first time, and it could extensive authority.

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<v Speaker 1>It oversaw taxation, judicial appeals, provincial administration, and even ecclesiastical matters.

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<v Speaker 1>To enforce its will, Peter established a new office, the

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<v Speaker 1>Procurator General, known as the Czar's Eye. This official was

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<v Speaker 1>charged with rooting out corruption, ensuring bureaucratic competence and compliance,

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<v Speaker 1>and acting as the Emperor's voice in his absence. Peter

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<v Speaker 1>also launched an ambitious plan to reorganize the emperor's territory.

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<v Speaker 1>In seventeen oh eight, he divided Russia into eight vast

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<v Speaker 1>gubernayas or provinces, each headed by a governor with sweeping authority.

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<v Speaker 1>Later these were further subdivided to improve tax collection, military conscription,

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<v Speaker 1>and law enforcement. These reforms were not merely logistical, they

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<v Speaker 1>were ideological. They signaled to Peter's designer to treat Russia

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<v Speaker 1>as a modern, centralized state where local tradition would bow

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<v Speaker 1>to imperial command. But to make this new system worked,

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<v Speaker 1>he needed a loyal and above all educated bureaucracy thus

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<v Speaker 1>became one of Peter's most controversial creations, the Table of Ranks,

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<v Speaker 1>which was established in seventeen twenty two. This document reorganized

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<v Speaker 1>social hierarchy not by birth, but by state service. It

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<v Speaker 1>divided civil and military positions into fourteen ranks and allowed

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<v Speaker 1>commoners to rise through the bureaucracy or army to attain nobility.

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<v Speaker 1>The underlying logic was revolutionary for Russia. Now going forward,

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<v Speaker 1>it was merit, not lineage that would determine privilege. As

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<v Speaker 1>Peter himself proclaimed, let's service to the state be the

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<v Speaker 1>only latter to greatness. The old boyar Duma, the advisory

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<v Speaker 1>council of aristocratic nobles, was simply abolished. Themselves, once clothed

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<v Speaker 1>in massive robes and unshorn beards, were now state functionaries,

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<v Speaker 1>dressed in western garb, expected to speak French, to dance

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<v Speaker 1>at court, and to build lives in service to the

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<v Speaker 1>imperial machine. The transformation was not smooth. Bureaucrats were frequently incompetent,

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<v Speaker 1>the reforms inconsistently applied, and resistance, both passive and active,

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<v Speaker 1>was widespread. But the foundations Peter Lade would remain the

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<v Speaker 1>Table of ranks, for example, survived until nineteen seventeen. His

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<v Speaker 1>states may have been built with coercion, but it endured

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<v Speaker 1>was startling resilience. Now, the crucible of the transformation was war,

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<v Speaker 1>specifically the Great Northern War, which I talked about last time,

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<v Speaker 1>which was from seventeen hundred and seventeen twenty one. This

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<v Speaker 1>was a grueling conflict against Charles the twelfth of Sweden

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<v Speaker 1>for dominance in the Baltic As I said at the beginning,

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<v Speaker 1>Sweden was the superior power, but in the end Russia's

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<v Speaker 1>consistent persistence paid off. At the Battle of Pultova in

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<v Speaker 1>seventeen oh nine, Peter's modernized army shattered the Swedish forces,

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<v Speaker 1>which really ended Sweden's reign as a great power and

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<v Speaker 1>signaled Russia's arrival. In a triumphant declaration to his troops,

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<v Speaker 1>Peter declared, the era of darkness is over. Russia is

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<v Speaker 1>now born anew and so it was. In seventeen twenty one,

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<v Speaker 1>after the Treaty of Nystad ended the war, Peter took

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<v Speaker 1>the title for the first time of Emperor of all

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<v Speaker 1>the Russians, officially transforming what had been a medieval kingdom

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<v Speaker 1>a Zardam into an empire. A senate decree placed him

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<v Speaker 1>as Peter Patre, Father of the Fatherland. Now. Peter's efforts

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<v Speaker 1>to westernize Russian society were sweeping and at times a

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<v Speaker 1>little ludicrous. He issued requirements requiring the boyars to shave

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<v Speaker 1>their beards as I mentioned that, which was a sacred

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<v Speaker 1>Orthodox tradition. They had to do it or they had

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<v Speaker 1>to pay a beard tax. He changed the calendar from

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<v Speaker 1>the Byzantine system to the Julian calendar, moving New Year's

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<v Speaker 1>Day to January the first. He required western dress. He

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<v Speaker 1>banned Russian traditional clothing at court and imported wholescale European

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<v Speaker 1>art and etiquette. A seventeen oh one decree ordered all

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<v Speaker 1>noblemen and government clerks must study mathematics and geometry, or

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<v Speaker 1>without such knowledge, no one may serve the state. To Peter,

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<v Speaker 1>backwardness was a sin. Efficiency, order and knowledge were sacred.

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<v Speaker 1>But not all Russians were eager to trade their caftains

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<v Speaker 1>for frock coats. There was resistance, especially among old believers

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<v Speaker 1>and conservative nobles. One of Peter's former companions, Prince ALEXI,

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<v Speaker 1>became a symbol of conservative resistance and back when Alexi

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<v Speaker 1>Fred abroad and plotted with enemies of the crown. Peter

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<v Speaker 1>hunted him down and had him tried and then tortured

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<v Speaker 1>to death. Frankly, Peter seemed to recognize the cost that

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<v Speaker 1>all these reforms were having on traditional Russian society. He

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<v Speaker 1>would confess in a private letter, we must break the

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<v Speaker 1>bones of our old Russia to set them straight. Better

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<v Speaker 1>suffer now than perish forever now. One of the biggest changes,

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<v Speaker 1>of course, that Peter brought, was the creation of an

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<v Speaker 1>imperial capital at Saint Petersburg. If Peter's bureaucratic overhaul was

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<v Speaker 1>really a cerebral endeavor, his founding of Saint Petersburg was

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<v Speaker 1>an act of pure driven will. It was as though

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<v Speaker 1>he had decided to simply manifest his ambitions in stone

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<v Speaker 1>and water. He transformed with the swampy Delta of the

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<v Speaker 1>Neva River into a symbol of Russia's new identity. The

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<v Speaker 1>site was actually chosen in seventeen oh three, during the

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<v Speaker 1>Great Northern War, after Russia managed to gain control of

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<v Speaker 1>the Delta from Sweden. It was dangerous place. It was

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<v Speaker 1>wind swept, it was prone to flooding, it was plagued

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<v Speaker 1>with disease, but Peter insisted on building there. He said,

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<v Speaker 1>we need a window to Europe, and he was willing

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<v Speaker 1>to pay to have it opened. Conscription began immediately, tens

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<v Speaker 1>of thousands of serfs, soldiers, prisoners, conscripts. They were all

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<v Speaker 1>brought to the site, often with little food or shelter.

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<v Speaker 1>Many died of exposure, malaria and exhaustion. Foreign visitors called

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<v Speaker 1>it quote the city built on bones end quote, but

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<v Speaker 1>Peter remained consistently relentless. He ordered that stone construction be

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<v Speaker 1>banned in all other Russian cities so that masons would

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<v Speaker 1>come to Saint Petersburg. He imported Dutch and Italian architects

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<v Speaker 1>and laid out the city along western lines, with broad avenues, canals,

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<v Speaker 1>and elegant embankments. The first major structure was the Peter

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<v Speaker 1>and Paul Fortress, a defensive bastion that would later serve

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<v Speaker 1>as a prison for political enemies. In seventeen twelve, before

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<v Speaker 1>it was even finish, Peter made Saint Petersburg the capital

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<v Speaker 1>of the Russian Empire. He transferred court functions, government departments,

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<v Speaker 1>and eventually the Senate from Moscow. Nobles were required to

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<v Speaker 1>build homes there at their own expense come westward or

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<v Speaker 1>be left behind. One foreign diplomat wrote an amazement quote,

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<v Speaker 1>This city, which only yesterday was a swamp, now shines

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<v Speaker 1>with palaces, shipyards and cathedrals. It was as though Rome

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<v Speaker 1>has risen again in the north. At the heart of

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<v Speaker 1>the new capital was the czar's own residence, the modest

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<v Speaker 1>Summer Palace, and later the more formal Winter Palace, which

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<v Speaker 1>would become a symbol of imperial opulence under Catherine the Great.

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<v Speaker 1>But Saint Petersburg was more than a city. It was

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<v Speaker 1>Peter's ideological statement. Here was Russia's break with her Asiatic past,

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<v Speaker 1>her entry into the courts of Europe. It was a

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<v Speaker 1>city where Baroque facades replaced onion domes, where science and

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<v Speaker 1>secularism edged out mysticism and tradition, where foreign languages and

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<v Speaker 1>Enlightenment ideas flowed as freely as the Neva River itself.

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<v Speaker 1>Peter would once tell a visitor in Moscow, the past

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<v Speaker 1>grips men's hearts. In Saint Petersburg, only the future matters.

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<v Speaker 1>Yet the irony, of course, was that, in his quest

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<v Speaker 1>to westernize, Peter still ruled like an Eastern autocrat. He coerced,

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<v Speaker 1>he commanded, he compelled. His new city was beautiful, Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>that's true, but it was built on human suffering, untold

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<v Speaker 1>human suffering. In that extent, there wasn't much different between

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<v Speaker 1>him and Ivan the Terrible. His new administration was efficient,

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<v Speaker 1>but it was autocratic. His empire had grown powerful, but

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<v Speaker 1>it was by no means free or liberal. Still, at

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<v Speaker 1>the time of his death in seventeen twenty five, the

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<v Speaker 1>transformation was undeniable. The boy who had once played with

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<v Speaker 1>wooden ships in the German Quarter now lay buried in

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<v Speaker 1>a stone cathedral. He had commissioned, in a city he

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<v Speaker 1>had invented, in a state it re engineered. He had

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<v Speaker 1>carved a new Russia into the map of Europe, and

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<v Speaker 1>as we'll see, that mark will not be easily replaced