Speaker 1: Hello, and Welcome to Western Siev Episode four hundred and
Speaker 1: seventy six Peter the Great. In the depths of a
Speaker 1: wintry Russian morning in sixteen seventy two, a boy was
Speaker 1: born in the Kremlin, a boy that would ultimately drag
Speaker 1: an ancient, semi medieval, i'll say mostly medieval empire kicking
Speaker 1: and screaming into the modern world. His name was Pyotar
Speaker 1: Eskovich Romanov, better known as Peter the Great. He would
Speaker 1: become not only a tzar but a major reformer. He
Speaker 1: was a visionary, he was an autocrat, and sometimes he
Speaker 1: was a tyrant. His reign was long, from sixteen eighty
Speaker 1: two to seventeen twenty five, and he would fundamentally reshape
Speaker 1: Russia's political, military, and cultural life, marking its beginning as
Speaker 1: really a European power. Now. Peter came to the throne
Speaker 1: jointly with his half brother Ivan the Fifth in sixteen
Speaker 1: eighty two, but because they were so young, their sister
Speaker 1: Sophia acted as regent. The child's are was restless and curious,
Speaker 1: with a particular fascination for all things mechanical and all
Speaker 1: things foreign. He spent much of his time not in
Speaker 1: the Kremlin, but in the German Quarter of Moscow, a
Speaker 1: suburb where foreign artisans and merchants lived. There, Peter mingled
Speaker 1: with Dutchmen, Scots and Germans, absorbing their customs, their clothing,
Speaker 1: their language, but most of all, their technology. It was
Speaker 1: there that he first encountered modern Western European military and
Speaker 1: naval practices that would obsess him for the rest of
Speaker 1: his life. He would later rate quote, I am a
Speaker 1: pupil of foreign nations, and he meant that quite literally.
Speaker 1: He learned shipbuilding with his own hands, studied fortification techniques,
Speaker 1: and surrounded himself with foreign advisors. In sixteen ninety seven,
Speaker 1: Peter sent off on an unprecedented diplomatic mission throughout Europe,
Speaker 1: known as the Grand Embassy. Disguised under the name of
Speaker 1: Peter Mikhaeloff, the rather recognizable six foot eight inch tall
Speaker 1: Zar traveled kind of incognito throughout the Netherlands, England and
Speaker 1: part of the Holy Roman Empire. He studied shipbuilding at
Speaker 1: the Dutch East India Company Shopyards in Zandam and in
Speaker 1: Deptford on the Thames. He visited scientifics societies, he hired engineers,
Speaker 1: and he met with monarchs John Evelyn, the English diarist
Speaker 1: described the strange Russian visitor as a quote man of
Speaker 1: genius and uncommon spirit, very understanding and desirous of knowledge
Speaker 1: end quote. But the Tsar's European tour was cut short
Speaker 1: by a rebellion back home. The Streltzi uprising forced him
Speaker 1: to return. What followed was a brutal crackdown. Peter had
Speaker 1: over one thousand of the rebel guards executed, with many
Speaker 1: personally interrogated and tortured by the Tsar himself. Their bodies
Speaker 1: were left on display as a warning. As one foreign
Speaker 1: diplomat right at the time, Moscow became a place of horror,
Speaker 1: a theater of vengeance. Peter returned from the West not
Speaker 1: just with new skills, but with a burning mission to
Speaker 1: reform Russia in its image. At its heart of the
Speaker 1: agenda was a transfer of society, government, and military to
Speaker 1: match what he had seen back in Europe. Peter created
Speaker 1: Russia's first ever standing army and established a modern navy
Speaker 1: from scratch. He conscripted peasants by the tens of thousands
Speaker 1: and hired foreign officers to train them in European tactics.
Speaker 1: In seventeen hundred, he adopted new military regulations based on
Speaker 1: the Swedish and Dutch models, declaring, quote, our armies shall
Speaker 1: march like those of Frederick and Gustavus end quote, referencing
Speaker 1: Gustavus Adolphus we've talked about previously. Naval bases were constructed
Speaker 1: along the Baltic and the new fleet would soon become
Speaker 1: a central tool in Peter's geographical ambitions. In terms of
Speaker 1: administrative overhaul, he literally rewrote the machinery of what would
Speaker 1: become the Russian Empire. When Peter assumed control of the
Speaker 1: Russian state, he inherited a government as cumbersome, medieval, and
Speaker 1: archaic as the empire itself. The Muscovite system had been
Speaker 1: an labyrinth of overlapping Pretzsky bureaucratic departments with relatively hazy
Speaker 1: duties and chronic inefficiencies. Corruption was endemic, local government inconsistent,
Speaker 1: and communication across Russia's vast terrain painfully slow. Peter, ever,
Speaker 1: the impatient engineer, began dismantling and rebuilding the machine with
Speaker 1: methodical force from the word go In seventeen eleven, he
Speaker 1: created the Senate, or more formally, what was called the
Speaker 1: Governing Senate. This was a supervisory governmental organ while he
Speaker 1: was away on his various campaigns. But quickly the governing
Speaker 1: Senate evolved into a permanent executive body, essentially a state
Speaker 1: council for the first time, and it could extensive authority.
Speaker 1: It oversaw taxation, judicial appeals, provincial administration, and even ecclesiastical matters.
Speaker 1: To enforce its will, Peter established a new office, the
Speaker 1: Procurator General, known as the Czar's Eye. This official was
Speaker 1: charged with rooting out corruption, ensuring bureaucratic competence and compliance,
Speaker 1: and acting as the Emperor's voice in his absence. Peter
Speaker 1: also launched an ambitious plan to reorganize the emperor's territory.
Speaker 1: In seventeen oh eight, he divided Russia into eight vast
Speaker 1: gubernayas or provinces, each headed by a governor with sweeping authority.
Speaker 1: Later these were further subdivided to improve tax collection, military conscription,
Speaker 1: and law enforcement. These reforms were not merely logistical, they
Speaker 1: were ideological. They signaled to Peter's designer to treat Russia
Speaker 1: as a modern, centralized state where local tradition would bow
Speaker 1: to imperial command. But to make this new system worked,
Speaker 1: he needed a loyal and above all educated bureaucracy thus
Speaker 1: became one of Peter's most controversial creations, the Table of Ranks,
Speaker 1: which was established in seventeen twenty two. This document reorganized
Speaker 1: social hierarchy not by birth, but by state service. It
Speaker 1: divided civil and military positions into fourteen ranks and allowed
Speaker 1: commoners to rise through the bureaucracy or army to attain nobility.
Speaker 1: The underlying logic was revolutionary for Russia. Now going forward,
Speaker 1: it was merit, not lineage that would determine privilege. As
Speaker 1: Peter himself proclaimed, let's service to the state be the
Speaker 1: only latter to greatness. The old boyar Duma, the advisory
Speaker 1: council of aristocratic nobles, was simply abolished. Themselves, once clothed
Speaker 1: in massive robes and unshorn beards, were now state functionaries,
Speaker 1: dressed in western garb, expected to speak French, to dance
Speaker 1: at court, and to build lives in service to the
Speaker 1: imperial machine. The transformation was not smooth. Bureaucrats were frequently incompetent,
Speaker 1: the reforms inconsistently applied, and resistance, both passive and active,
Speaker 1: was widespread. But the foundations Peter Lade would remain the
Speaker 1: Table of ranks, for example, survived until nineteen seventeen. His
Speaker 1: states may have been built with coercion, but it endured
Speaker 1: was startling resilience. Now, the crucible of the transformation was war,
Speaker 1: specifically the Great Northern War, which I talked about last time,
Speaker 1: which was from seventeen hundred and seventeen twenty one. This
Speaker 1: was a grueling conflict against Charles the twelfth of Sweden
Speaker 1: for dominance in the Baltic As I said at the beginning,
Speaker 1: Sweden was the superior power, but in the end Russia's
Speaker 1: consistent persistence paid off. At the Battle of Pultova in
Speaker 1: seventeen oh nine, Peter's modernized army shattered the Swedish forces,
Speaker 1: which really ended Sweden's reign as a great power and
Speaker 1: signaled Russia's arrival. In a triumphant declaration to his troops,
Speaker 1: Peter declared, the era of darkness is over. Russia is
Speaker 1: now born anew and so it was. In seventeen twenty one,
Speaker 1: after the Treaty of Nystad ended the war, Peter took
Speaker 1: the title for the first time of Emperor of all
Speaker 1: the Russians, officially transforming what had been a medieval kingdom
Speaker 1: a Zardam into an empire. A senate decree placed him
Speaker 1: as Peter Patre, Father of the Fatherland. Now. Peter's efforts
Speaker 1: to westernize Russian society were sweeping and at times a
Speaker 1: little ludicrous. He issued requirements requiring the boyars to shave
Speaker 1: their beards as I mentioned that, which was a sacred
Speaker 1: Orthodox tradition. They had to do it or they had
Speaker 1: to pay a beard tax. He changed the calendar from
Speaker 1: the Byzantine system to the Julian calendar, moving New Year's
Speaker 1: Day to January the first. He required western dress. He
Speaker 1: banned Russian traditional clothing at court and imported wholescale European
Speaker 1: art and etiquette. A seventeen oh one decree ordered all
Speaker 1: noblemen and government clerks must study mathematics and geometry, or
Speaker 1: without such knowledge, no one may serve the state. To Peter,
Speaker 1: backwardness was a sin. Efficiency, order and knowledge were sacred.
Speaker 1: But not all Russians were eager to trade their caftains
Speaker 1: for frock coats. There was resistance, especially among old believers
Speaker 1: and conservative nobles. One of Peter's former companions, Prince ALEXI,
Speaker 1: became a symbol of conservative resistance and back when Alexi
Speaker 1: Fred abroad and plotted with enemies of the crown. Peter
Speaker 1: hunted him down and had him tried and then tortured
Speaker 1: to death. Frankly, Peter seemed to recognize the cost that
Speaker 1: all these reforms were having on traditional Russian society. He
Speaker 1: would confess in a private letter, we must break the
Speaker 1: bones of our old Russia to set them straight. Better
Speaker 1: suffer now than perish forever now. One of the biggest changes,
Speaker 1: of course, that Peter brought, was the creation of an
Speaker 1: imperial capital at Saint Petersburg. If Peter's bureaucratic overhaul was
Speaker 1: really a cerebral endeavor, his founding of Saint Petersburg was
Speaker 1: an act of pure driven will. It was as though
Speaker 1: he had decided to simply manifest his ambitions in stone
Speaker 1: and water. He transformed with the swampy Delta of the
Speaker 1: Neva River into a symbol of Russia's new identity. The
Speaker 1: site was actually chosen in seventeen oh three, during the
Speaker 1: Great Northern War, after Russia managed to gain control of
Speaker 1: the Delta from Sweden. It was dangerous place. It was
Speaker 1: wind swept, it was prone to flooding, it was plagued
Speaker 1: with disease, but Peter insisted on building there. He said,
Speaker 1: we need a window to Europe, and he was willing
Speaker 1: to pay to have it opened. Conscription began immediately, tens
Speaker 1: of thousands of serfs, soldiers, prisoners, conscripts. They were all
Speaker 1: brought to the site, often with little food or shelter.
Speaker 1: Many died of exposure, malaria and exhaustion. Foreign visitors called
Speaker 1: it quote the city built on bones end quote, but
Speaker 1: Peter remained consistently relentless. He ordered that stone construction be
Speaker 1: banned in all other Russian cities so that masons would
Speaker 1: come to Saint Petersburg. He imported Dutch and Italian architects
Speaker 1: and laid out the city along western lines, with broad avenues, canals,
Speaker 1: and elegant embankments. The first major structure was the Peter
Speaker 1: and Paul Fortress, a defensive bastion that would later serve
Speaker 1: as a prison for political enemies. In seventeen twelve, before
Speaker 1: it was even finish, Peter made Saint Petersburg the capital
Speaker 1: of the Russian Empire. He transferred court functions, government departments,
Speaker 1: and eventually the Senate from Moscow. Nobles were required to
Speaker 1: build homes there at their own expense come westward or
Speaker 1: be left behind. One foreign diplomat wrote an amazement quote,
Speaker 1: This city, which only yesterday was a swamp, now shines
Speaker 1: with palaces, shipyards and cathedrals. It was as though Rome
Speaker 1: has risen again in the north. At the heart of
Speaker 1: the new capital was the czar's own residence, the modest
Speaker 1: Summer Palace, and later the more formal Winter Palace, which
Speaker 1: would become a symbol of imperial opulence under Catherine the Great.
Speaker 1: But Saint Petersburg was more than a city. It was
Speaker 1: Peter's ideological statement. Here was Russia's break with her Asiatic past,
Speaker 1: her entry into the courts of Europe. It was a
Speaker 1: city where Baroque facades replaced onion domes, where science and
Speaker 1: secularism edged out mysticism and tradition, where foreign languages and
Speaker 1: Enlightenment ideas flowed as freely as the Neva River itself.
Speaker 1: Peter would once tell a visitor in Moscow, the past
Speaker 1: grips men's hearts. In Saint Petersburg, only the future matters.
Speaker 1: Yet the irony, of course, was that, in his quest
Speaker 1: to westernize, Peter still ruled like an Eastern autocrat. He coerced,
Speaker 1: he commanded, he compelled. His new city was beautiful, Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's true, but it was built on human suffering, untold
Speaker 1: human suffering. In that extent, there wasn't much different between
Speaker 1: him and Ivan the Terrible. His new administration was efficient,
Speaker 1: but it was autocratic. His empire had grown powerful, but
Speaker 1: it was by no means free or liberal. Still, at
Speaker 1: the time of his death in seventeen twenty five, the
Speaker 1: transformation was undeniable. The boy who had once played with
Speaker 1: wooden ships in the German Quarter now lay buried in
Speaker 1: a stone cathedral. He had commissioned, in a city he
Speaker 1: had invented, in a state it re engineered. He had
Speaker 1: carved a new Russia into the map of Europe, and
Speaker 1: as we'll see, that mark will not be easily replaced