Peter The Czar
Peter was only ten years old when he ascended to the throne. He played only a ceremonial role along with Ivan. The real regent to take the throne was Ivan's sister, Sophia . Sophia was a very intelligent woman. She did not spend her days sewing gold thread around crosses the way her mother had, but dabbled in politics during her uncle's short reign . She began very slowly at first but then became an aggressive politician. She liked to test just how far she could press the limits set by society. She new that her brother Ivan would not be capable of ruling and she feared the very thought of Peter taking control. Being an ambitious woman, Sophia decided to use her brother as an instrument to gain all the power for herself. She knew that whoever controlled the Czar's bodyguard's had the power. She very cleverly spread false rumors about Peter's family, including one stating that the Naryshkin's had strangled Ivan. This of course was not even remotely true, but the Czars' guards did not know the real condition of Ivan. Thay grabbed their pikes and muskets and marched to the Kremlin to avenge Ivan's death. Natalia met the soldiers holding onto each of the young Czars' hands. The guards looked upon both boys in bewilderm
Peter became increasingly possessed with Westernizing Russia. His military was defeated in the early battles of the Great Northern War . The course of the war changed when Swedish King Charles XII tried to invade Russia. Charles meant to capture Moscow but turned his efforts southward to the Ukraine. Russian forces were successful in cutting off the Swedes' supply lines sending the Swedes homeward. In 1713-1714, Russia captured most of Finnland from Sweden. After Charles died, Russia was able to walk into Sweden. In 1721, the two sides signed a peace agreement called the Treaty of Nystadt. Russia was given Estonia, Latvia, and southeastern Finnland. By defeating Sweden, Russia became the greatest power in northeastern Europe. St. Petersburg was Peter's dream city. The people saw a side of Peter they never knew existed. He was totally indifferent to human lives. He wanted his city built no matter how many people died doing it. He ordered all upper class people living in Moscow to move to St. Petersburg immediately. His dream city was a reality. The following year Peter travelled around Europe. He had two goals in mind when he began his trip: set up an alliance against Turkey, and expand his personal knowledge of the West. He spent a lot of time in Holland. He even worked incognito in a Dutch shipbuilding yard. Amsterdam was the capitol of the world at thi time. Peter was amazed at its splendor--if the Hollanders could build a magnificent city upon a swamp, so could the Russians! Hence, the idea for St. Petersburg was born. Peter was a twenty-two year old man in his prime when he returned to Moscow. He was ready to be the acting Czar of Moscow. Sofia attempted to have Peter murdered again, but she had lost favor with the people and Peter had his own guards. He gave his
Some common words found in the essay are:
War Peter, Preobrazhensky Semenovsky, Sophia Sophia, Moscow Sofia, Ivan Thay, Azov Peter, Petersburg Peter's, Russian Czars, , Ukraine Russian, western ideas, st petersburg, people peter, lower classes, foreign relations, russia military, northern war, dream city, peter's reign,
Approximate Word count = 1206
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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