Peter The Great 2
Peter the First of Russia (more commonly known as Peter the Great) was born the son of Alexis Michailovich Romanov and Natalia Cyrilovna Narishkina on June 9, 1672 in Moscow, Russia (2:242-243). Alexis was overjoyed, and a great gingerbread cake with the double eagle was made, cannons were fired, and bells rang all over the land (4:89). But at his birth, it was not known that he would be the future czar of Russia. It was not until later on, when the czar Alexis died in 1676 at the age of 47, leaving his son Feodor (son of his first wife, Maria Miloslavsky) the heir to the throne (4:89). Feodor was slightly retarded, and therefore very fragile. Bitter rivalries went up for 6 years between the widow and ex-wife of Alexis, until Feodor died of natural causes in 1682 (4:89). It was then that a truce was made that Peter and his half-brother Ivan (also son of Maria), who was also slightly retarded, would be joint czars (4:89). He spent most of his young childhood life in the Kremlin, which he grew to hate, due to the dusky rooms, the labyrinthine corridors, and the bloody memories of terror and danger (4:89). When Peter was 10 years old, the palace guards revolted, and brutall
1705-the entire city is drenched in water In 29 short years, Peter the Great had revolutionized his land and turned it forcibly toward the west. Many of his people did not understand him and considered him a devil. Yet his love for his country and his people was total. In his energy, endurance, and imagination, he was supremely Russian; without any doubt, the greatest Czar Russia ever had. Gaurila Derzhavin, the 18th century Russian poet, asked: "Was it not God, who in person, came down to earth?" (4:107) Grey, Ian; History of Russia; NY; American Heritage Publishing Co.; 1790. He was determined to Westernize his country to close the gaps and heal the scars of the Mongol invasions. So, the very next year after the death of his half-brother Ivan, Peter set out to see Europe himself -- no Czar had ever set foot out of his dominions for over 600 years, or ever even seen the West. And the thought of the Czar leaving Russia deeply shook the entire country -- they feared that he might never return (4:90-91). In March, 1697, led by Peteršs Genevan general Lefort, a Grand Embassy of about 270 persons set out for Europe. First, Peter took 10 companions and sailed down the Rhine River to Holland, in a small town called Zaandam, near Amsterdam. There he learned shipbuilding, and even made ships himself by hand (4:92). A few months later, they carried on to England, where Peter insisted on climbing the uppermost galleries in the Parliament. In Deptford on the Thames River, Peter continued to study shipbuilding. While traveling in the West, Peter recorded his observations in notebooks. He worked in the paper factory, where he learned the art of engraving. He learned how to cut up whale blubber in Texel, and human anatomy and surgery in Leyden. He also traveled to the cities of Cloves, Leipzig, Dresden, and Vienna, and later on in his life, he traveled to Amsterdam, Hamburg, Copenhagen, And Lubeck (4:93). On all his tours, he collected and recruited people and engaged them into service -- workmen, engineers, surgeons, artists, seamen, gunners, goldsmiths, astronomers, and mathematicians (4:93). y murdered the supporters of his mother. Peter witnessed the brutal murders of Artemon Mateev, and Nataliašs brother on the lawn of the Kremlin. It was then that Peter, his two small sisters, and his mother withdrew to the countryhouse of Czar Alexis in the village of Preobrazhenskoe outside Moscow. They returned to the Kremlin infrequently, where Peter and Ivan sat on their double throne, flanked by 12 giant guards with battle-axes. Warily Peter listened as his clever and relentlessly ambitious older half-sister Sophia (also daughter of Maria), acting as regent, whispered instructions to him through the curtain (4:90). When Peter tried to introduce these reforms, as well as others, the very people he had hoped would support him, turned on him. The majority of the people who turned on him were the conservative boyars and clergy, who called him a heretic. They often referred to him as the Anti-Christ on the throne, with smoke billowing out of his mouth (4:94). Massie, Suzanne; Land of the Firebird; NY; Simon and Schuster; 1980. Peter was married on February 6, 1689 to Yevdokiya Theodorovna Lopukhina, who gave him 3 children. When his half-bro
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Approximate Word count = 2232
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)
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