Who was Peter I or Peter the Great for Russia in reality? Russian Tsar Peter the First was replaced by a double Peter 1 was replaced in Europe

Three hundred and sixteen years ago, Peter the Great introduced the European chronology in Russia, throwing out the Slavic calendar in the "dustbin of history" on which it was 7208. Why did Peter the Great need to change the calendar and impoverish Russian history? Historians put forward a shocking hypothesis.

It was not Pyotr Alekseevich Romanov who canceled it at all, but an impostor who came from Europe to take his place. At the time of departure, Peter was 26 years old. He had a mole on his left cheek, wavy hair, and was slightly above average. This is clearly seen in the portraits of that time. The Tsar was well educated, loved everything Russian, knew the Bible and Old Church Slavonic texts by heart.

Evidence that Tsar Peter I was an impostor

After arriving from abroad (which took place two years later, instead of the planned two weeks, and only Menshikov returned with Peter as part of a delegation of twenty), the tsar looked outwardly completely different. According to eyewitnesses, he was about two meters tall (which was a great rarity at that time), there was not that very mole on his left cheek, there was hard straight hair.

He was also physically very strong and, in particular, demonstrated various skills that could hardly be acquired without participating, for example, in naval battles. Probably, this was a different person, and he was very different from the real Pyotr Alekseevich Romanov.

The man who returned from, although he had an outward resemblance to Peter, immediately puzzled his subjects with strange habits. He commanded to shave beards and dress in a Western manner. And he himself never put on his old clothes, including the regal vestments, probably because he did not fit the size.

The new Peter was over two meters tall, which at that time was very rare. Until the end of his days, he suffered from tropical fever, which in Europe was decidedly nowhere to catch. This is the disease of the southern seas. During the battles, he demonstrated a great experience of boarding combat, which can only be obtained by experience, and Peter had not participated in any naval battles before.

Returning to, Peter ordered to exile his legal wife Evdokia Lopukhina to a remote monastery, without even seeing her. But at the beginning of the journey, he often wrote her tender letters that have survived to this day: he consulted, swore of love and fidelity. And suddenly such a drastic change. Probably, the impostor feared that his royal wife would immediately notice the substitution and therefore first of all took care of its elimination.

Another albeit circumstantial evidence in favor of the impostor. The sovereign was gone for two years, and if Princess Sophia had plans to take the throne, she did not have a more convenient moment, but she did not make any attempts to do so. Only when she saw Peter returning from Europe, Sophia raises a rifle revolt, the reason for which was simple - the tsar was not real.

He was suppressed, and in fact, by force, the possibility of even discussing the topic that the king was a different person was eliminated.

Among the reforms of Peter who returned from Europe, historians see a number of measures that destroyed a number of cultural richest Russian traditions. Cancellation of measures of length and weight: sazhen, elbow, vershok. A ban on the cultivation of a number of agricultural crops, such as amaranth, which was the basis of Russian bread. The abolition of the Russian writing, which consisted of 151 characters and input, the forty-three-digit writing of Cyril and Methodius. Peter ordered to take everything to Petersburg and then burn them. He called on German professors who wrote a completely different Russian history.

What happened to the real Peter the first? According to historians, he was seized by the Jesuits and placed in a Swedish fortress. He managed to convey a letter to Karl 12 - the king of Sweden and he rescued him from captivity. Together they organized a campaign against the impostor. But the entire Jesuit-Masson brotherhood of Europe, called up to fight, together with the Russian troops, won a victory at Poltava. The real Russian Tsar Peter 1 was captured and placed away from the Bastille, where he later died. An iron mask was put on his face.

But why did you need such a complex and dangerous one with the substitution of the sovereign? Why was it necessary to try to erase Russian history at any cost? What was there that was so dangerous for Western Europe? Perhaps this can be explained very simply too. For many centuries the Germans had illegally occupied our lands and were very afraid that we would demand them back at any moment.

Peter the Great was born on May 30 (June 9) 1672 in Moscow. In the biography of Peter 1, it is important to note that he was the youngest son of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich from his second marriage with Tsarina Natalia Kirillovna Naryshkina. From one year he was brought up by nannies. And after the death of his father, at the age of four, his half-brother and new Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich became Peter's guardian.

From the age of 5, little Peter began to learn the alphabet. The clerk N.M. Zotov gave him lessons. However, the future tsar received a poor education and did not differ in literacy.

Rise to power

In 1682, after the death of Fyodor Alekseevich, 10-year-old Peter and his brother Ivan were proclaimed tsars. But in fact, their elder sister, Princess Sophia Alekseevna, took control.
At this time, Peter and his mother were forced to move away from the yard and move to the village of Preobrazhenskoye. Here, Peter 1 develops an interest in military activity, he creates "amusing" regiments, which later became the basis of the Russian army. He is fond of firearms, shipbuilding. He spends a lot of time in the German settlement, becomes a fan of European life, makes friends.

In 1689, Sophia was removed from the throne, and power passed to Peter I, and the administration of the country was entrusted to his mother and uncle L.K. Naryshkin.

The reign of the king

Peter continued the war with the Crimea, took the fortress of Azov. Further actions of Peter I were aimed at creating a powerful fleet. The foreign policy of Peter I of that time was focused on finding allies in the war with the Ottoman Empire. With this aim, Peter went to Europe.

At this time, the activities of Peter I consisted only in the creation of political unions. He studies shipbuilding, device, culture of other countries. He returned to Russia after the news of the Strelets rebellion. As a result of the trip, he wanted to change Russia, for which several innovations were made. For example, the Julian calendar has been introduced.

For the development of trade, access to the Baltic Sea was required. So the next stage of the reign of Peter I was the war with Sweden. Having made peace with Turkey, he captured the fortress of Noteburg, Nyenskans. In May 1703, the construction of St. Petersburg began. Next year Narva and Dorpat were taken. In June 1709, Sweden was defeated at the Battle of Poltava. Soon after the death of Charles XII, peace was concluded between Russia and Sweden. New lands joined Russia, access to the Baltic Sea was obtained.

Reforming Russia

In October 1721, the title of Emperor was adopted in the biography of Peter the Great.

Also during his reign, Kamchatka was annexed, the coast of the Caspian Sea was conquered.

Peter I carried out military reform several times. Basically, it concerned the collection of money for the maintenance of the army and navy. In short, it was carried out forcibly.

Further reforms of Peter I accelerated the technical and economic development of Russia. He carried out a church reform, financial, transformation in industry, culture, trade. In education, he also carried out a number of reforms aimed at mass education: many schools for children and the first gymnasium in Russia were opened (1705).

Death and legacy

Before his death, Peter I was very sick, but continued to rule the state. Peter the Great died on January 28 (February 8), 1725 from an inflammation of the urinary bladder. The throne passed to his wife, Empress Catherine I.

The strong personality of Peter I, who sought to change not only the state, but also the people, played a crucial role in the history of Russia.

Cities were named after the Great Emperor after his death.

Monuments to Peter I were erected not only in Russia, but also in many European countries. One of the most famous is the Bronze Horseman in St. Petersburg.

Other biography options

• Contemporaries and historians note that Peter I was distinguished by his high growth, more than two meters, beautiful, lively facial features and a noble posture. Despite the formidable dimensions, the tsar still could not be called a hero - 39 shoe sizes and 48 clothes sizes. Such disproportion was observed literally in everything: for his gigantic growth, too narrow shoulders, small arms and head. His frequent swiftness and brisk walking did not save the day. The people around him did not feel strength and power in him. He conquered others.
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From the very beginning of his reign, Peter gave preference to foreigners, for example, in his first campaign against Azov, he put his drinking companions, the booters Lefort and Gordon, at the head of the Russian army.

And when he returned from Europe with the embassy, ​​he took with him 800 foreigners, many of whom were not valuable specialists, but simply “natural” managers and adventurers, such as the Dutch Jew Acosta, who played the jester under Peter, the Portuguese Jew Divier or the Polish Jew Shafirov. Peter the Great publicly stated:

“It makes no difference to me whether a person is baptized or circumcised, so that he only knows his business and is distinguished by decency.”

However, he made one exception: after visiting Holland, where there were many Jews, Peter became wary of them, because the historian Solovyov argued that Peter the First loved all nations except the Jews. Which confirms the statement of Peter himself in 1702:

“I want ... to see in myself better the peoples of the Mohammedan and pagan faith than the Jews. They are rogues and deceivers. I root out evil, not disintegrate; There will be no home for them in Russia, no trade, no matter how hard they try, and no matter how they bribe those close to me. "

However, Peter appointed Divier (Devier) the first chief of police of Petersburg, governor and bestowed the title of count, and Shafirov - vice-chancellor and the title of baron, although then in 1723 he sentenced him to death for embezzlement, replaced by exile; however, then, Divier also fell into exile, but that was after the death of Peter.

“Peter, who was trying to push back the ancient clan Russian families from the tsar's throne, brought Divier closer to him. Peter forced Menshikov to marry his sister to Divier. Leaving St. Petersburg, Catherine entrusted her daughter Natalya and the children of the executed Tsarevich Alexei, Peter and Natalya, to no one else but ... Divier, ”B. Bashilov noted in his research.

In total, about 8 thousand foreigners arrived in Russia under Peter. It seems that this number is not large, but given that the foreigners did not go to plow the arable land, but go upstairs - to manage, it turned out a lot. It's like today - like there are not many citizens of Jewish nationality, only 300 thousand, but we see above: in the oligarchs, journalists and ministers, almost only Jews.

Peter, without any common sense, fanatically worshiped everything Western, European - he forced his associates to smoke, drink, participate in collective revelry; welcomed the fashionable already in Europe Freemasonry - as the highest degree of European education - on February 10, 1699, Sheremetyev appeared at a ball at Lefort in a German dress and with a bright Maltese cross and other Masonic paraphernalia, and received from Peter "a great favor." What are Freemasons, Peter already knew from his European voyage. In addition, his favorite Lefort was the “Master of the Chair”, and the “first overseer” was the same favorite - Gordon. The famous Vernadsky, who studied not only the Noosphere, in his master's thesis in 1916, argued that Peter himself was accepted in Holland into the Knights Templar, “in the Scottish degree of St. Andrew ". Most likely, Peter was not a convinced Freemason, more “for brilliance and prestige,” although, judging by his attitude towards the people, he would have been no less talented Freemason than those who wielded the guillotine in France.

Peter decided to carry out radical reforms in Russia. What was the need for this?

After the death of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich in 1676, his son Fyodor Alekseevich became the next Tsar of Russia, who ruled until his death in 1682, and who, in a short period of his reign, managed to carry out important effective reforms in the army, administration and taxation, powers of the Boyar Duma and the Patriarch. Above, we watched the reforms of Sophia. Before Peter the Great, as we saw earlier, Russia developed quite successfully and steadily - numerous wars were successfully fought, land was acquired not only in Siberia and the Far East, but also in the European part, culture and printing were successfully developing.

“It is not true that only Peter began to introduce the Russian people to culture. The assimilation of Western culture began long before Peter. Western scholarly architects worked in Russia long before Peter the Great, and Boris Godunov began sending Russian youths abroad. But the assimilation of Western European culture proceeded naturally - in a normal way, without extremes ... - asserted in his research our compatriot from Argentina Boris Bashilov. Under Alexei Mikhailovich (the father of Peter the Great), the first theater and the first newspaper already existed. “Cathedral Code” was published in an unprecedented circulation for Western Europe - two thousand copies. Was published "The Steppe Book" - a systematic history of the Moscow state, "The Tsarist Book" - an eleven-volume illustrated history of the world, "ABC" - a kind of encyclopedic dictionary, "Ruler" - Elder Erasmus-Ermolai, "Domostroy" Sylvester ... In the Moscow archive of the Ministry of Justice before the February Revolution, hundreds of various kinds of works written in the 17th century were kept. "

A. Burovsky noted in his research:

"But it is worth digressing from school textbooks and analyzing the original historical sources - and we will find that in the pre-Petrine Russia of the 17th century there was already everything that is attributed to Peter: from potatoes and tobacco to an excellent fleet and a completely modern army for that time."

For some reason, Peter is credited with the creation of a regular Russian army, but this is not true, a lie - a regular army in Russia was created before the reign of Peter the Great in 1681.

Before Peter the Great, Russia had three problems: enslavement of the peasants, as a result of which Russia was periodically shaken by powerful popular uprisings; (2) Alexey Romanov ascended too much and made a big dangerous gap between the people and the tsar, for this reason popular uprisings could greatly weaken Russia; (3) for the development of Russia, access to the seas was needed: the Baltic and the Black, and, accordingly, a military and merchant fleet.

Peter the Great began his reforms, passionately wishing to imitate the West, conceived not only to envy the Europeans to build a new capital “Northern Paradise” in the swamps, but to dress the whole people in European clothes, to change all strata of society. Before Peter, they were fond of Western European culture in moderation - Godunov built Kokuy for foreign merchants and sent children to study in European countries, Aleksey Romanov taught his children foreign languages, Golitsyn knew Polish and dressed in Polish clothes, Sofia introduced teaching foreign languages.

In 1698, Peter issued a decree to change the national dress to European. The forcible imposition of Western culture took on forms unprecedented in the history of mankind - special military services cut beards and long hemlines of clothes right on the streets. The people began to actively resist. And so that the people could not resist, Peter issued a decree prohibiting the wearing of sharp-pointed knives. In 1700, Peter repeated the decree - all residents of Moscow were ordered to change all their clothes for European ones within two days, and merchants were promised hard labor, lashing with a whip and confiscation of property for trading in Russian clothes.

Special armed detachments - guardians of Western fashion grabbed passers-by, knelt down and cut off the hem of their clothes at ground level. The requirement for men's clothing - to narrow the waist - was perceived by Russian men and boyars as something very shameful. The beards of the men were shaved violently and in the most brutal manner. It was possible to buy off shaving - merchants paid 100 rubles for the right to wear a beard, boyars - 60, other townspeople - 30. That was a lot of money at that time. An exception was made for priests - they were allowed to wear beards.

In Astrakhan, Peter's subordinates ordered the soldiers to pull out their beards by the roots, which was the reason for the uprising of the Astrakhan people in 1705. In a petition to the king, they complained:

“We have become for the Christian faith ... In Kazan and in other cities, the Germans were sent two or three men to the courtyards and to the local residents, and to their wives, and to children, they reprimand and curse.”

“And the colonels and early people, the Germans, swearing at Christianity, repaired many of their burdens innocently, beat them in services, made meat to eat on fast days and repaired any curses to their wives and children,”

“They beat them on the cheeks and with sticks”, and Colonel Devin “beat the petitioners and mutilated them to death” (S. Platonov, “Lectures”).

One gets the impression that Peter specially widely used the appointment of foreigners to high positions - the conductors of his "Western" domestic policy, because his own could feel sorry for their own. Peter, with his "perestroika" in the Western manner, brought the people to a stupor and a nervous breakdown, the people fled not only to the Cossacks, but also to Turkey, realizing that nothing good awaited them there.

The famous historian Kostomarov, trying to somehow find an excuse for Peter, put forward the assumption that Peter did not love the real Russian people, but that ideal of the Russian people (template) invented by him, which he wanted to create on the European model. To this we can add - and therefore the real Russian people cut to the European pattern like a butcher who imagines himself a tailor-cutter.

Despite such a frivolous attitude towards the status of the church, Peter with incomprehensible cruelty persecuted the Old Believers who had hidden in the forests for a long time. Old Believers protested in their own way: 2,700 Old Believers burnt themselves in the Paleostrovsky skete, 1920 people - in the Pudozh churchyard.

It seems that while fighting with national dress, national rituals, Old Believers, Peter was fighting with everything national, with the primordially Russian, authentic, with the Russian soul. There is no other way to explain why Peter organized the collection of ancient chronicles from all corners of Russia and monasteries and destroyed them, like the entire Kazan archive. When the year 7208 passed in Russia not “from the creation of the world”, as they usually write, because it is clear that the “world” in any sense was created much earlier, but from the end of the “Great War” of our ancestors with the Chinese civilization, Peter decided to change the Old Russian a calendar that even the baptist Vladimir and later the Christian Church did not dare to change. And on December 19, 7208, he introduced by his decree the European calendar - the year 1699. Peter also introduced the New Year in a European way - from January 1, and before that it was from September 1, with the beginning of the wilting of Nature. By the way, our ancestors were still reckoning from a more distant period - from the onset of the Ice Age, the “Great Cold”, according to which, for example, 2008 is 13016.

Thus, Peter the Great circumcised more than five and a half thousand years of Russian history.

“The Russian educated classes, after and thanks to Peter's reforms, culturally found themselves in a peculiar position, as it were,“ not remembering kinship, ”Prince Svyatopolk-Mirsky recorded the reality in his book.

“The Peter's reform erased ancestral memories like a sea sponge. It seems that together with European clothes, the Russian nobleman was born for the first time. Forgotten centuries ... ”, - wrote Klyuchevsky.

Peter the Great not only changed the calendar, but also celebrated the New Year in an original way. He celebrated the new year 1700 with exuberant merriment in the company of the "All-Minded and Most Drunken Cathedral" for two weeks. Residents of Moscow were in fear and horror, they had no time for New Year's fun, or rather, now the New Year's celebration performed by Peter and his company looked like this - a company of 100-200 people broke into the houses of residents, ate and drank everything and demanded more, then she cheerfully looked for hidden supplies, again ate and drank everything, often cheerfully and jokingly raped his wife and daughters. During this binge, according to R.K. Massy - Peter behaved "like an unbridled youth", this is a mild form of saying "unbridled stallion".

“The inability to hold on, the desire to take possession of literally every woman who could only please him, led to a natural result: more than 100 bastards of Peter are known. Tellingly, he never helped them, explaining it very simply - they say, if they are worthy, they will break through themselves, ”noted A. Burovsky.

Then the whole festive campaign of Peter's moral monsters grabbed the things and jewels they liked, calling them Christmas gifts, the found money, and noisily moved on, frightening passers-by with daring and choosing the next house-victim for a “joke” stay.

The satanic attitude of Peter was not only to his native people, but, accordingly, to his native Nature, as, for example, above we observe the barbaric felling of oak groves in the Voronezh province. The historian Klyuchevsky also noted this fact: “a valuable cudgel for the Baltic Fleet - another log was valued at a hundred rubles of that time, it lay in whole mountains on the shores and islands of Lake Ladoga…”. Peter's scale of construction was enormous, and the scale of mismanagement was of the same size. Then Peter rushed to the other extreme and made the "extreme people" - on pain of death, defiantly placing vilts at the edge of the forests, forbade the peasants to cut down the forests for their needs. Now the peasants could not build a house, a shed, or a stove without special permission and bribes.

An admirer of Peter, an incorrigible Westerner A. Herzen, wrote about Peter the Great: “... he took denationalization much further than this modern government in Poland does ... - and this for at least six generations - the command of Peter the Great: stop being Russian and you will render a great service to humanity ”(Herzen's article“ The New Phase of Russian Culture ”).

This terrible direction of blow of the cosmopolitan Peter the Great was explained by the famous Karamzin:

“By rooting out ancient habits, presenting them as funny, stupid, praising and introducing foreign ones, the Sovereign of Russia humiliated the Russians in their own hearts”, “Peter did not want to delve into the truth that the people's spirit constitutes the moral power of the state, like the physical power, necessary for their strength” ...

The bloody despot and the monster had an interesting relationship with their loved ones. We saw earlier - for the sake of peace of mind of his mistress Anna Mons and his tonsure as a nun, Peter exiled his lawful wife and queen to a distant monastery. And "Kokuisku queen" was bombarded with gifts and established a state salary. Peter was delighted with his mistress and in January 1703 presented “Monsikha” with the Dudin volost in the Kozelsk district - 295 households, and began to tell those around him that he would soon make her the rightful queen, marry her. But a month later, Peter made the most unpleasant, terrible discovery for himself ...

Having recovered a little from the Narva defeat, Peter, discovering that the Swedish king Charles the Twelfth was stuck with his army in battles deep in Poland, at the end of 1701 sent B.P. Sheremetyev (1652-1719). Unexpectedly for Peter, Sheremetyev successfully walked through Livonia: he defeated the protective Swedish detachments, took several cities without a fight, robbed them, then burned them and returned with rich captured loot: valuables, cattle, horses, many prisoners, mostly civilians. And inspired Peter became frequent with military campaigns in the Baltic lands. In 1702, Russian troops laid siege to the important strategic fortress Noteburg, located at the source of the Neva from Lake Ladoga. In February 1703, Peter arrived to personally lead the assault. The assault was a success - Peter gave the captured Noteburg another foreign name - Shlisselburg, which translates as "key-city", it seems that Peter did not have the idea of ​​building Petersburg yet, and he considered Shlisselburg as a supporting fortress - the key to the Baltic. During the magnificent celebrations in the fortress on the occasion of the victory, Peter got letters from the Saxon envoy Königsek who participated in this campaign.

The letters turned out to be from Anna Mons, the beloved “Monsicha”, who, as it turned out, in Peter's absence did not waste time, did not get bored - for a long time she had been Konigsek's mistress, that is, she had been instructing Peter, the king, “horns” for a long time. The state of a normal man, deceived, with wounded pride, is understandable, but one can only guess about Peter's state at that moment ... Moreover, in her letters “Kokuiskaya Tsarina” spoke of Peter, to put it mildly, impartially, complaining about his barbaric manners. At the same time “Monsiha” sent letters “with hearts” to Peter ...

Despite the Kokui upbringing of Anna Lefort, the long-standing "love" prestigious relationship between her and the king, despite numerous expensive gifts from Peter, Anna Mons did not want to associate her life with the monster; she did not want to endure his drunkenness, licentiousness, depravity, orgies, abnormality, she wanted to marry a normal cultured person.

In addition, it was unpleasant for her when Peter casually tumbled into the bedroom of her best friend Elena Fademrekh. There are several versions: according to one - the letters from "Monsihi" came to Peter by accident, according to the other - the "kind" courier slipped them "by mistake", according to the third - during the victorious feast, Koenigsek in a strange way accidentally drowned and ominous letters were found in his things. Most likely, one of the first versions is correct, and, knowing the character of Peter, we can say that upon discovering treason, Peter in a rage ordered to drown a competitor, and he himself watched with pleasure.

Judging by the subsequent actions, Peter, it seems, greatly loved Ankhen, for he did not tonsure her as a nun, imprison her in a monastery and chop off her head, as he did with Maria Hamilton in a similar situation, although close relations with Maria were for several months, but only limited her freedom by house arrest, and then watched for a long time and took revenge, crap.

The embittered Peter stopped communicating with Anna. But when in 1706 Anna Mons wanted to marry the Prussian envoy to Russia, Baron Johann von Keyserling, the jealous and vengeful Peter, in order to prevent marriage, accused Anna of fortune-telling. The investigation into this case lasted a whole year, during which 30 people from Anna's entourage were arrested and severely tortured. Only through the stubborn efforts of the diplomat-groom in 1707, the investigation was terminated, but Peter took away almost everything donated and confiscated.

Probably, Keyserling loved Anna very much, for several years he sought permission to marry Anna and, finally, after receiving it from Peter, he married her in June 1711. And it seemed like a happy ending - for Anna, for both, but it wasn’t there - as soon as Baron Keyserling left the house after the “honey period”, he died under mysterious circumstances. Most likely, Peter was still trying to brutally take revenge on Anna; It has long been noticed that people with a satanic mentality have no nobility at all. Anna died of consumption in 1714. Peter all this time was not alone and was quite happy with another beloved woman; this story is more tragic for Peter.

During a campaign in Livonia, Sheremetyev's troops captured the city of Marienburg, where Marta Skavronskaya, born in 1684, worked as a cook and washerwoman in the family of Pastor Gluck. According to one version, her parents died of the plague, and her uncle, the Swedish quartermaster, Johann Rabe, gave the orphan to the house of pastor Gluck. The pastor baptized her and raised her. But when Marta gave birth to a child, the pastor hastened to marry her to the Swedish soldier Johann Kruse.

And two months after their wedding, Russian troops, or rather Russian, entered Marienburg, for after the Narva defeat Sheremetyev had multinational troops.

“Sheremetyev crossed over to the Narova, went to visit Estonia in the same way as he visited last year in Liflandy. The guests were the same: Cossacks, Kalmyks, Tatars, Bashkirians, and they stayed as before ... Sheremetyev entered Veshenberg without hindrance, the city of Rakov (Rakvere), famous in ancient Russian history, and heaps of ash remained on the site of the beautiful city. The same fate befell Weissenstein, Fellin, Aubert-Pallen, Ruin; the devastation of Livonia was completed, ”wrote R. Massey about two campaigns in the Baltic States in 1701 and 1702.

Marta Skavronska, judging by her surname, was a Polish woman, because the root of the surname is translated only into Polish - “skavronek” is a lark, and in the Polish way the popular surname sounds like Skavronska. But Martha is a popular name among Germans and Swedes, and the Poles did not take Swedish and German names. It seems that Martha's nationality reveals the Old Testament name of her father - Samuel, and the wise Jew adjusted to the historical situation - when Poland was before Riga, the surname was Polish, and with the arrival of the Swedes, the children had Swedish names. And the surname of the quartermaster's uncle Rabe - the Germans and Swedes have the same name as in Ukraine or Russia - Rabinovich. I.N.Shornikova and V.P.Shornikov in their research argue that Rabe was Martha's husband, but there is more information that Kruse was after all.

Marta Skavronskaya turned out to be the prey of the Cossacks and Bashkirs of Sheremetyev, then Colonel Bauer noticed the 18-year-old brunette and took her to the officer's tents, then Sheremetyev noticed Martha and took her to his headquarters. The trophy beauty was so good and affectionate that Sheremetyev brought her with him to Moscow, where Menshikov noticed her, and Sheremetyev did not contradict and be greedy, and while drinking in Menshikov's house on March 1, 1704, the owner boasted of his acquisition to Peter the Great. The Russian tsar became interested and checked if her beloved friend had lied ... The young trophy laundress did not know how, she had no education, Pastor Gluck did not teach her to read and write, but during her adventures in captivity she learned to please men well, to be affectionate and cheerful, perhaps God only gave her this talent. But this is what Peter the Great appreciated most of all, and this is what he called love. “Two boots of a pair” came together. Martha moved in with Peter.

Peter began to quickly heal mental wounds after Ankhen. The people around noticed that Martha was not afraid of Peter in fits of anger, and only she was able to boldly and tenderly calm him down in this state, relieve nervous tension. Peter also liked Martha's cheerful moral position - she watched his many hobbies, was not jealous, did not scandal, but only joked and laughed at his frequent romantic adventures. And sometimes there was something to laugh at, - once once again “having got” the wife of some officer Praskovya, Peter caught syphilis or some other unpleasant venereal disease from her - a disease, and the terribly evil ordered her husband to flog his wife - “unfit Froska ”(A. B.).

In connection with this story and the story of Martha, one can recall the statement of the wife of the famous philosopher Pythagoras, who is very respected in Greece for the wisdom of Fiano. When she was asked: "On what day is a woman purified after a man?"

Peter was comfortable with Marta, after another “Victoria” over someone’s wife he complimented her: “nothing can compare with you”. So they began to live happily. Peter the Great conspired with the washerwoman Marta Samuilovna in the Russian way - he called her Catherine. On pain of death, others were forbidden to mention the origin of Catherine and her real name. Martha-Catherine showed very good health - she easily bore him children, there were 11. Of them, she gave birth to two daughters before their wedding, that is, they were illegitimate.

In 1708, Martha was baptized for the third time, she converted to Orthodoxy, her godfather when she was baptized was Peter's son Alexei, after which Martha was called Yekaterina Alekseevna.

And it turned out to be an unpleasant incident - Peter married his spiritual granddaughter.

When, after the victory over the Swedes near Poltava in 1709, Peter in 1711 went to the Prut campaign against Turkey, Catherine accompanied him on the campaign, and even commanded the soldiers, and when Peter was threatened with captivity on the bank of the Prut and the Swedish king was already threatening to lead his prisoner on a rope, then Catherine took part in the most difficult negotiations with the Turks. The Turks did not bring the matter to capture. And Peter returned to Russia safe and sound and still managed to grab the daughter of the Valamian (Moldavian) prince Cantemir, who was taken prisoner in the campaign, the famous poet, whom Peter raped and decided to take her to Russia, and imprisoned her in reserve in the village of Black Gryaz, then renamed to Tsarskoe Selo, but after that he “forgot” about the Moldavian beauty according to the principle “neither to herself - and to anyone,” and she died in captivity. Again, we can emphasize the cynical "mismanagement" characteristic of Peter - 27,285 people died in the Prut campaign, of which only 4,800 died in battles with Turkish troops, the remaining 22,000 died because of Peter the Great - as a result of the disgusting organization of the military campaign: from hunger, cold and disease.

After the tragic Prut campaign, Peter in 1712 married Catherine, and Catherine became officially two-married.

“Since 1702, all mention of Johann Kruse has disappeared. Disappears, however, only from Russian sources. The Swedes know very well what happened to the legal husband of the Russian empress. Johann Kruse served the Swedish king for many more years, and in his old age in the garrisons on the Aland Islands ... Johan did not start a family either and explained to the pastor that he already had a wife and he would not take sin on his soul ... He outlived his lawful wife, Martha- Catherine, but not much, having died in 1733. All of the above explains very well why in tsarist times it was believed that Johann Kruse disappeared without a trace ...

Martha-Ekaterina was the legal wife of Johann Kruse. She remained her even when Peter officially married her in 1712. She just became a double woman and, moreover, in the event of a trial, she was to become the wife of Johann, as the tsar who married her 10 years earlier, ”noted A. Burovsky in his research.

Now Marta-Catherine became the legitimate wife of the tsar, that is, the Russian queen, and her children could lay claim to the Russian throne. From that time on, Marta began to be jealous of Peter's eldest son by Evdokia Lopukhina - Alexei, and his family.

A year earlier, Peter forcibly married Alexei on October 11, 1711 to a relative of the wife of Emperor Charles the Sixth, Sophia Charlotte-Christine Braunschweig-Wolfuebüttel, because Peter the Great was building some intricate strategic plans. Charlotte came to Russia with her friends and stayed away from the Russians, constantly demanding money from Alexei, it was difficult to talk about love in this family.

1715 turned out to be a turning point in Alexei's relationship with his father, Peter. Since 1710, Peter the Great became permanently ill - all the accumulated diseases from a riotous life, and especially syphilis, strongly developed in him. Peter became even more irritable and ferocious. Already in 1711, illnesses worried him greatly, and at the beginning of the Prut campaign, he was forced to urgently leave for treatment in Carlsbad on the water. After the wedding with Catherine, Peter rushed about in search of effective treatment and saving lives - in 1712 he went to Russian Pomerania for treatment, then again to Karlsbad, then to Czech Teplice. But there were only temporary improvements, but in general the situation worsened.

In 1715, Peter's health completely deteriorated, Peter became so ill that he had already confessed and received Communion, that is, he thought that he might die. And the question about the successor to the government came up “squarely”. And in this situation, all the accumulated discontent of Peter with his son Alexei sharply escalated.

Alexei greatly annoyed Peter with his dissimilarity, he was a balanced, educated person, knew many foreign languages, was not fond of war games, was normal, did not drink in such quantities and in such companies, did not organize "most drunken cathedrals" and orgies, he did not have greedy authority and cruelty, etc. - he was a stranger to Peter in spirit, there was not that native Satanism in him. And Peter had no choice - there were no other sons, although Peter understood that, to put it mildly, Alexei was not delighted that Peter had never removed his mother from the throne and even imprisoned the innocent woman in a monastery. In 1709, Peter even sent Alexei to Dresden to study at a fortification school, hoping to captivate him with military affairs, seeing that Alexei is undoubtedly an intelligent man. But Alexei did not become different, he remained himself.

The second queen Marta-Catherine could not give birth to Peter's son - heir, she bore him two daughters before marriage and after diligently gave birth to Peter's children every year, but everything turned out to be girls. Catherine jealously and anxiously looked towards Alexei's family - there would not be another heir born there. In 1714, a daughter was born to Alexei's family, but the next year, in 1715, a son, Peter, the future emperor Peter Petrovich, was born. The dynasty continued: Peter the First - Alexey Petrovich - Peter Alexeevich. But fate once again smiled slyly - in 1715 Martha-Catherine finally gave birth to a son and named, of course, Peter. Now a washerwoman from Livonia with a Polish surname, a Swedish name and Jewish roots could compete for the establishment of her dynasty in Russia. A fierce unequal struggle began.

The tone of the attitude of Peter the Great to his eldest son changes dramatically, Peter in 1715 sends a letter to Alexei, although both are in St. Petersburg, nearby:

“For the sake of staying like that, if you think of being, neither fish nor meat, it is impossible, but either change your disposition or unfeignedly honor yourself as an heir, or be a monk.”

It was indecent blackmail, intimidation, but the main thing was the demand for the impossible, and Peter understood this perfectly, but he hated his own son, who was alien to him, and his beloved Marta actively pushed him to this, urged him on. From that moment, Peter began to spread rot, persecute his son Alexei. Peter once again demonstrated the absence of any nobility and all his dark baseness.

Alexey simply physically could not change his personality, and he did not want to go to a monk at all - he had a family: a young beautiful wife imposed by his father and two children. And Alexei in 1715 renounced the throne. But Alexei's troubles were not over. At the beginning of 1716, Alexei's wife, Charlotte-Christina, died. By the beginning of 1716, Peter got a little better and went to Permont for treatment, and in 1717 he went to the water in Amsterdam. During all these trips to Europe, he tried to combine useful with useful: he was treated and conducted active diplomatic negotiations with European leaders in order to put together a bloc against Sweden and Turkey, but no one except Poland wanted to contact him.

But throughout this voyage and treatment, Peter sent Alexei numerous letters with threats - trying to force him to go to a monastery, to take monastic vows, despite the fact that Alexei renounced the throne in favor of Martha's son Catherine. In a letter dated January 19, 1716, Peter wrote: “If you don’t do it, then I will treat you like a villain”.

In September 1716, Peter repeats his demand even more harshly. And it is very strange - Peter did not make any specific claims to Alexei. Alexei understood that if he refused to take the monk's hair, he was in danger, and his children would be in big trouble.

But Alexey did not want to leave society, children; besides, during this period “Cupid joked” - Alexei managed to fall in love with a captive peasant woman, a serf, a slave of his mentor N. Vyazemsky, Efrosinya Fedorovna. Alexei understood that his father would never allow him to marry his beloved. Until Peter returned to Russia, Alexei decided to flee the country, away from Peter, and went with Euphrosyne to Vienna.

Upon learning of the flight of his son, Peter the Great was furious, this was perceived as a shame - the son fled from his father-tsar, Peter's pride was severely wounded, and his discontent with his son reached extreme ferocity.

He immediately demanded that Austria give up his son. But the authorities of this country treated Alexei humanely, did not want to shackle him and send him to Peter, but suggested that Peter solve the family troubles peacefully, through negotiations. Alexei went even further - to Naples, and from this city he sent a letter to the Senate in Russia explaining his action. Peter's diplomats, Tolstoy and Rumyantsev, pursued Alexei throughout Europe to convey Peter's false promises.

And at this moment, one should pay attention to an important point - what dozens of books and textbooks basely lie about - about Alexei's betrayal; abroad, Alexei did not conduct any anti-state activity, did not organize any conspiracy: neither inside Russia nor outside its borders did he form any foreign blocs against Russia and did not persuade European monarchs to go to war against Russia or remove Peter from the throne for the sake of his power - there is not a single one evidence, not a single fact. The only thing that can be recorded is that Alexei did not like Peter's attitude to his people, his internal cruel policy, and he expressed his criticism in conversations with foreigners. But about 99% of Russians were dissatisfied with the internal politics of Peter, almost all, except for a small handful of confidants. And everything that modern authors have written and are writing against Alexei is a repetition, a rehash of completely unfounded accusations of Peter the Great himself.

After Peter almost died in 1715, the attitude towards the “sick elderly lion” of his “loyal” associates changed, and events became possible that had previously been unthinkable. Peter, in spite of his “love” for Martha-Catherine and his illnesses, tried not to forget his “bed register” - it was a certain plan that cannot be called “a plan to conquer the hearts of the beauties that he liked for the near future”, but something I do not want to pronounce the vulgar. And Peter liked the maid of honor of Catherine - Maria Hamilton, who was from an ancient Scottish family. As many authors write, Peter, who was sick with many venereal diseases, “recognized in the young beauty talents, which it was impossible not to gaze upon with lust,” and began to satisfy his desires. A few months later, for some reason, Peter suddenly “fell out of love” with Mary, stopped paying attention to her, most likely moved on to the “bed register”. Mary was immediately "picked up" by those close to Peter, after Peter "to have love" with the former favorite of the tsar was very prestigious.

During the long absence of Peter in 1716-1717. in Russia, the chaos and various outrages intensified. Money was stolen in monstrous volumes, and Queen Martha - Catherine the First, deciding that her status was nowhere stronger: Peter adores her, nevertheless gave birth to an heir, and the main competitor refused the throne and rushed to run, - decided not to torture her healthy body and allow yourself freedom in pleasures, especially since the “love” of Peter, in the same sense of “love” and Martha, in connection with his illnesses began to weaken.

“The number of Catherine's fleeting hobbies was approaching two dozen. Of the future members of the Supreme Privy Council, only the pathologically cautious Osterman and Dmitry Golitsyn did not take advantage of her favors, who continued to look at the “mother queen” with arrogant disgust ... ”, A. Burovsky noted in his research. Peter the second time turned out to be "horned", but he did not know about it yet.

When Peter returned to Russia in 1717, declared Martha-Catherine the tsarina and discovered that important government papers had disappeared from his office, the tsar’s office, they began to look for spies. At this time, the old trusted orderly Ivan Orlov was on duty - and they began to torture him with passion. Orlov swore and swore that he was guilty in many ways, but not in espionage. Among the sins he listed, it turned out that he had a long-standing affair with Maria Hamilton. It would be better if he did not say this for his own good. The maid of honor admitted under torture that she had betrayed the king (!) And that she had to do several abortions, intrauterine poisoning, including from Peter. To change the king is high treason, and a new investigation was brought up. Peter decided to take an original step - he went, told everything to Catherine, hoping that she would destroy her ward in a rage, but she reacted calmly and said that she had known everything for a long time and forgave the maid of honor. Disappointed Peter had to deal with the fate of the girl himself. But at this time, Alexei was tricked into returning to Russia, and Peter postponed the proceedings. Alexei believed Peter's promises - not to bring him and Euphrosyne any harm, Peter even promised to allow them to get married - when they return.

But immediately upon crossing the Russian border on February 3, 1718, Alexei was arrested, and an investigation began, Peter accused Alexei of treason. All of Alexei's entourage was subjected to torture with addiction, to which Alexei was dragged and forced to look at the torment of loved ones.

After that, many people who “wrongly” influenced Alexei were executed: Kikin, Afanasyev, Dubrovsky, priest-confessor Yakov Ignatiev. In the course of the investigation, they made an unpleasant discovery - there were too many disaffected with the tsar, but they did not execute them all. Peter, on the other hand, blamed Alexei's freedom of thought mainly on “bearded men,” that is, priests, complaining that his father had one (that is, Nikon), and he had thousands.

In the course of this investigation, one more trouble was revealed for Peter - naturally, they remembered Evdokia Fedorovna Lopukhina, who was in the monastery - "Eldress Elena", and began to torture her entourage for involvement in the conspiracy, and discovered Evdokia Fedorovna's love affair with Major Stepan Glebov. Peter thought that the first beauty of Russia, imprisoned in a distant monastery, had been in isolation for 20 years and should have died long ago of injustice, loneliness and longing. And Peter raised a cry about another high treason, began another investigation.

It turned out that in 1709 Major Stepan Bogdanovich Glebov was recruiting in the vicinity of the monastery and stopped by to look at the queen, who was no longer living in a monastery, but nearby in a village as a monk - “secretly a laywoman”. Beautiful love flared up between them; Glebov began to visit Lopukhina, bring her warm clothes and food. After Peter's wedding with Martha-Catherine in 1712, the relationship between Lopukhina and Glebov became close. Although running around Russia, Glebov did not often visit Evdokia, but judging by the surviving nine letters of Evdokia, they felt happy for the last 6 years, here is an excerpt from one letter:

“My light, my father, my soul, my joy, how can I be without you in the world! Oh, my dear friend, why are you so sweet to me! You are no more dear to me, to her God! Oh my darling, write me down, please me a little. Do not leave me for the sake of Christ, for the sake of God. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, my soul, my friend! "

Peter didn't care about Lopukhina for a long time, he forgot about her existence, but this story wounded not so much his male pride as his sense of ownership, and it was very angry that it turned out that Lopukhina did not suffer much in the distance alone and even happy.

The entire entourage of Evdokia was subjected to torture, including her confessor Fyodor Pustynny and Bishop of Rostov Dositheus, who was rushed, then his head was cut off, and his head was put on a stake in a public place. Peter would have a good reason to "go out in full" and get a lot of black pleasure.

For six weeks in a row, "Doctor" Peter tortured Major Glebov. They tortured for so long, because Stepan Bogdanovich was very steadfast and courageous and did not say anything against the honor of the legitimate queen Evdokia Fedorovna. A certain Player reported to Peter: "Major Stepan Glebov, tortured in Moscow with a terrible whip, red-hot iron, burning coals, for three days tied to a post on a board with wooden nails, did not confess to anything." At that time, the most notorious criminal, a traitor, was given a maximum of 15 blows with a whip, and Glebov was inflicted with 34, practically leaving him without skin.

Peter was furious, the question - to "break" the hero was a matter of principle for him. Peter himself, with his violent imagination, took part in the torture, but Major Glebov held out. Then Peter the Great came up with a torture-execution, which was not practiced in Russia at that time - he decided to impale him alive, and so that Glebov would suffer longer and more terribly - Peter calculated and built a special stake with a crossbar so that the stake would not pierce through quickly and death was not quick.

During the execution on Red Square in Moscow on March 15, 1718, surrounded by a crowd of onlookers, Glebov courageously endured terrible torment on a stake, and Peter, who was nearby, gloatingly enjoying his torment, begged Glebov to confess his crime - if not to Peter, then before death - before God ... Stepan Glebov coolly replied to the monster: "You must be the same fool as a tyrant ... Go, monster," and spat in Peter's face, adding: Get out and let those who you did not give the opportunity to live peacefully die. The enraged tyrant was defeated by the power of the spirit of the martyr. Peter still tried to scoff at the dying man evilly - at his order, jokingly, they put on a hat and a sheepskin coat for the martyr - so that he would not freeze and die prematurely and spoil the king's fun.

At 18 o'clock Glebov was slowly dying a painful death; Archimandrite Lopatinsky, Priest Anophrius and Hieromonk Markel “were on duty” nearby, waiting for repentance, who wrote in the report: “he did not bring them any repentance”. On the second day, feeling the nearness of death, Stepan Bogdanovich asked these three to receive Holy Communion before death, but all three turned out to be cowards, they were afraid of Peter's discontent and refused the martyr, all of the above “clergy” committed a terrible sin.

Peter the First was indignant at his impotence, he was defeated, his royal and personal pride was amazed - Peter the First was sure that he, Peter, was “the coolest,” powerful and all-powerful king. For three and a half years, the defeated Peter rushed about with his indignation and wounded pride, perhaps he had painful nightmares, bloody dreams, and the invincible courageous Major Stepan Glebov looked at him from the other world with a wise contemptuous smile. And Peter could not resist and decided to fight him again, to attack him together with the Holy Synod - on August 15, 1721, Peter the First ordered the Holy Synod to condemn Stepan Glebov and give eternal damnation - anathema.

It seems that Peter was not even happy with the final victory of the Russian army over the Swedes in the naval battle near Grengam Island on July 27, 1720, and the end of the protracted Northern War, recorded in a treaty with Sweden in the same August 1721. It was more important for him, the most important thing was to defeat Major Glebov.

The Synod delayed the fulfillment of the will of the king. Then Peter decided to compensate for his inner defeat with the delight of pride - he ordered the Senate to give him titles, to name him: Great, Emperor and Father of the Fatherland - all that his imagination was capable of. And the Senate in October 1721 in a solemn atmosphere fulfilled the will of Peter. After that, the "bearded men" did not contradict the will of the Great Emperor and the Father of the Fatherland - on November 22, 1721, the Holy Synod gathered and the "spiritual hierarchs" obediently condemned the "evil criminal" and betrayed eternal damnation.

Did Peter feel any better after that? Unknown; in my opinion, he only slightly sweetened the bitterness, especially in the remaining few years of his life he was expected to face another defeat. The offended and offended laundress-queen Marta-Catherine the First, deprived of titles, was outraged, and by order of Peter the Great on December 23, 1721, the Senate gave her a New Year's gift - presented the title of “Empress”.

Let's go back to 1718, after the execution of Stepan Glebov. A fatal verdict was passed by Peter and his son Alexei. The court, headed by Menshikov, sentenced Alexei to death. Rather, at the behest of Peter, the court sentenced Alexei to death.

And on June 26, 1718, as noted in the garrison book of the Peter and Paul Fortress, at 8 o'clock in the morning, Peter arrived at the fortress to Alexei with 9 officials - to personally execute Alexey or personally be present at his execution. How they killed Alexei turned out to be a secret, and it is still unknown, one can only guess what the sophisticated Peter could have come up with for his son. The next day, June 27, this earthly Satan with might and main had fun with his “all-drunken cathedral”, celebrating the anniversary of the Battle of Poltava widely, on a spree.

By this time, the investigation “into the case” of Maria Hamilton had been going on for more than a year. With her, Peter acted in an original, vengeful manner: although she never gave birth, but performed abortions, they “sewed” on her some abandoned newborn found dead, and this was the basis for Peter to execute his former mistress. Maria pleaded with him in public until the very last second. Peter himself brought the Scottish beauty to the executioner on March 14, 1719. After that, the people witnessed the “famous scene” - Peter the Great raised the severed head of Mary Hamilton, read to those around him a long lecture on anatomy, then the monster kissed the lips of the severed head and threw it into the mud.

Try to answer the question - was Peter the First a man?

By order of the tsar, the subordinates washed the severed head, put it in alcohol and placed it in a glass vessel in the museum - in the Kunstkamera, where Peter often went to rest and admire his beauty - freaks and severed heads.

For two years, Peter was engaged not in state affairs, but in the investigation, torture, executions.

“The country turned out to be virtually ruled by no one; the executive discipline was monstrous, the theft of officials became the norm. Even the old clerks, who had begun under Alexei Mikhailovich, were corrupted by the lawlessness organized by the tsar himself ...

The Finance Collegium demanded reporting from the provinces, and in 1718 they sent out demands throughout the country: to send statistics on income and expenditures. Not a single province sent a single piece of paper; in 1719 they recalled… silence again, ”noted A. Burovsky in his research.

But on a personal level, everything would be fine - all the "enemies" - the traitors were executed, a complete "Victoria!" Braunschweig-Luneburg resident F.H. Weber, describing the celebration of the New Year of 1719 in St. Petersburg, noted that “the tsar likened himself to Patriarch Noah, who still gazed with indignation at the ancient Russian world ...”. As you can see, Peter is already 47 years old and he never fell in love with Russia.

In 1719, a sad event for Peter happened - the last son of Martha-Catherine, Peter Petrovich, the planned heir, died of illness. Peter fell into apathy and blues, his illnesses intensified, and after long deliberation, Peter in 1722 changed the legislation on succession that had existed for centuries, introduced the right of the emperor to appoint an heir himself in order to prevent the grandson of Peter Alekseevich, the son of the executed Alexei, from accessing the throne, and put him on the throne before her death, a three times baptized, two-married Jewish woman with a Russian-Swedish name and a Polish surname. At the same time, various adventurers like Menshikov got a chance to take the Russian throne - like Menshikov, who could hope that after the death of Peter, his old concubine could transfer the throne to him, appoint him emperor, because it was thanks to him that this washerwoman became the queen and empress.

During this period, Peter was prompted that in the south of the internal rifts Persia had actually collapsed, and it would not hurt to snatch something from her. And Peter moved a huge army to Persia, which easily, without much resistance, reached Baku. Further progress was stopped by the Ottoman army approaching to help Persia, as a result of which Peter was forced to sign in September 1723 a peace treaty beneficial for Russia - Persia ceded the Caucasus from Dagestan to Baku to Russia. But all the material and human efforts, human sacrifices were in vain, for after his death, greatly weakened during the reign of Peter the Great, Russia did not dare to fight with Persia, and according to the Reshtek Treaty of 1732 and the Ganja Treaty of 1735, it peacefully returned everything it won to Persia back.

If in the Prut campaign about 5 thousand Russian soldiers and officers died in battles, and 22 thousand died through the fault of Peter as a result of his poor organization of the campaign - from cold and hunger, then I do not know how many lives Peter the Great ruined this time in the Persian campaign.

In 1723, Peter the Great was forced to pass the death sentence for embezzlement on his friend, the Jew P.P.Shafirov (1669–1739), but at the last moment he had mercy and replaced the execution with exile.

52-year-old Peter already felt very bad and took care of the throne - in May 1724 he arranged a grand coronation ceremony for his beloved Martha Catherine, after whom he had previously named a city in Siberia (Sverdlovsk) in 1723. But as already indicated above, from about 1717, Marta-Catherine “went on a spree” and had many lovers, many knew about this, except for Peter, the courtiers kept the secret in solidarity. She did not stop her pleasures after becoming queen, and empress, and crowned. A few months after the coronation, Peter accidentally suddenly discovered a terrible truth for himself - his beloved Marta-Catherine, the empress had been cheating on him with the chamberlain for a long time, instructed the emperor to “horn”, betrayed! Treason again! And with whom? - with Willim Mons, brother of that Anna Mons, who also instructed the "horns" of the king. Peter was shocked.

“… There is also evidence that since 1724 Peter simply became impotent, and the“ mother queen ”finally went all out,” A. Burovsky noted in his research. In any case - Peter was definitely very ill, and after drinking a huge amount of alcohol he could completely weaken, and younger than him by 12 years, Marta-Catherine smelled of health, and 4 years younger than her, Willim was the court “Apollo” and “love” understood in Petrine style.

The seriously ill Peter “the Great” was in a rage and indescribable rage, jumped, yelled, poked with a hunting knife at the walls and at everything that came to hand, almost crippled his daughters, broke the door. This was the last person close to him, and he betrayed. Menshikov had long since greatly disappointed Peter with his greed and cunning, and was already in great disgrace. Peter was devastated, disappointed with life, lost all meaning of life, completely alone. This was the natural ending of the monster's dirty life: he began with mud - he spent his whole life in mud and blood - and ended his life with mud and blood. He mocked lives, over Life, and Life answered him in the same way. Fearing to inflict more pain on himself and to make more “discoveries”, Peter interrupted the investigation and cut off Montsu's head on November 16, 1724, put the severed head on a pole on Trinity Square and ominously brought Martha-Catherine to show her lover's head, not realizing that it was his same shame.

Although he tried to hide his shame, to disguise - in the verdict it was said that Mons would be executed for bribes. Then Peter ordered the competitor's head to be alcoholized and placed in the Kunstkamera. Other betrayals did not become known to Peter, because the confidants tied in a secret were not interested in this, and first of all, Menshikov's closest friend, who, according to some historians, had not broken the connection with his mistress since 1703. The shocked Peter began to wither quickly, drove his wife to separate rooms, then began to impose sanctions: he forbade the courtiers to accept orders and instructions from the empress, then imposed a “quaestor” on giving her money, and the empress had to borrow money from the courtiers; then Peter tore up his will of succession to the throne. And it is not known what Peter would have reached in his rage, or rather, it is known if it had not been for his sudden death on January 28, 1725.

It sounds paradoxical or natural - but everyone benefited from the death of the tyrant. And many researchers are inclined to conclude that Peter hastened his death, "helped" - poisoned, and in the first place the beloved Marta-Catherine and "friend" of childhood Menshikov were interested in this. For if Peter could add his famous phrase, interrupted by death: “Give everything ...”, then, most likely, it would be a disaster for them, and so they are completely free, already without any fear of Peter, spent two years at the peak of power in continuous drunkenness and orgies, when, as visiting foreigners wrote, at the Russian imperial court during this occupation day and night merged together. A. Burovsky remarked:

“Peter seemed to deliberately do everything possible so that after him literally nothing was left. He killed a smart, good son who could have ruled after him; elevated to the throne a woman who was mortally dangerous for himself and completely unsuitable for the role of empress. Finally, he seemed to have deliberately attracted to power people who are completely incapable of standing at the helm of the state. ”

Peter himself gathered his entire palace “team”, gave birth to them, and united them during his lifetime, was the center of their attention and “cement”, but with the death of Peter, this “cement” that rallied together abruptly disappeared, freeing the subordinates, and they were free from him. being sometimes in a sober and sane mind, they intrigued each other harshly, intrigued each other. The famous historian Klyuchevsky remarked: "They began to fool about Russia immediately after the death of the reformer, they hated each other and began to trade in Russia as their prey."

“In general, I must say that the company of“ chicks of Petrov’s nest ”has gathered not only that it is fetid and bad, but also extremely unviable: and short-lived, and did not leave offspring. As soon as Peter died, the members of this circle fought, betrayed each other and began to die one after another. And in descendants these people were sterile. If the reader thinks that I am a spiteful critic and slander beautiful people - let him name me anyone from the Menshikovs, Yaguzhinsky, Golovins, Buturlins. Name at least one well-known statesman, famous for his deeds, scientist, writer, artist ... ”, - said A. Burovsky.

According to various opinion polls, Peter I remains one of the most popular historical figures in our time. He is still glorified by sculptors, poets compose odes to him, and politicians are enthusiastic about him.

But did the real person Pyotr Alekseevich Romanov correspond to the image that, through the efforts of writers and filmmakers, was introduced into our consciousness?

Still from the film "Peter the First" based on the novel by A. N. Tolstoy ("Lenfilm", 1937 - 1938, directed by Vladimir Petrov,
in the role of Peter - Nikolai Simonov, in the role of Menshikov - Mikhail Zharov):

This post is quite voluminous in content. , consisting of several parts, is devoted to exposing the myths about the pen of the Russian emperor, which are still wandering from book to book, from textbook to textbook, and from film to film.

To begin with, the majority represent Peter I absolutely not the way he really was.

According to the films, Peter is a huge man with a heroic physique and the same health.
In fact, with a height of 2 meters 4 centimeters (really, huge for those, and very impressive for our times), he was incredibly thin, with narrow shoulders and torso, a disproportionately small head and leg size (about 37 sizes and this with tall!), with long arms and spider-like fingers. In general, an absurd, awkward, clumsy figure, a freak freak.

The clothes of Peter I, preserved to this day in museums, are so small that there can be no talk of any heroic physique. In addition, Peter suffered from nervous seizures, probably of an epileptic nature, was constantly ill, and never parted with a first-aid kit with many medicines that he took every day.

Do not trust the court portraitists and sculptors of Peter.
For example, the famous researcher of the Peter the Great's era, the historian E. F. Shmurlo (1853 - 1934) describes his impression of the famous bust of Peter I by B.F.Rastrelli:

"Full of spiritual power, unyielding will, imperious gaze, intense thought make this bust akin to Michelangelo's Moses. This is truly a formidable king, who can cause awe, but at the same time majestic, noble."

Otako more accurately conveys the appearance of Peter plaster mask taken from his face in 1718 father of the great architect - B.K.Rastrelli , when the tsar conducted an investigation about the treason of Tsarevich Alexei.

This is how the artist describes it A. N. Benois (1870 - 1960):“Peter’s face became gloomy at that time, downright terrifying in its menacingness.

Of course, the real appearance of Peter I was completely different from what appears before us on his ceremonial portraits.
For example, these:

Portrait of Peter I (1698) by a German artist
Gottfried Kneller (1648 - 1723)

Portrait of Peter I with the insignia of the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called (1717)
works of the French painter Jean-Marc Nattier (1685 - 1766)

Please note that between the writing of this portrait and the making of Peter's lifetime mask
Rastrelli has passed only a year. Are they really similar?

Currently the most popular and highly romanticized
in accordance with the time of creation (1838) portrait of Peter I
works of the French artist Paul Delaroche (1797 - 1856)

Trying to be objective, I cannot help but note that monument to Peter I , the work of the sculptor Mikhail Shemyakin , performed by him in the USA and established in the Peter and Paul Fortress in 1991 , also little corresponds to the real image of the first Russian emperor, although, quite possibly, the sculptor sought to embody the very "monstrously fantastic image" that Benoit was talking about.

Yes, Peter's face was made from his death wax mask (cast by B. K. Rastrelli). But Mikhail Shemyakin at the same time consciously, achieving a certain effect, increased the proportions of the body by almost one and a half times. Therefore, the monument turned out to be grotesque and ambiguous (someone admires it, and someone hates it).

However, the very figure of Peter I is very ambiguous, which I want to tell everyone who is interested in Russian history.

In conclusion of this part another myth about death of Peter I .

Peter did not die because he caught a cold while rescuing a bot with drowning people during a flood in St. Petersburg in November 1724 (although there really was such a case, and it led to an exacerbation of the tsar's chronic illnesses); and not from syphilis (although from his youth Peter was extremely promiscuous in his relationships with women and had a whole bunch of sexually transmitted diseases); and not because he was poisoned with some "specially donated sweets" - all these are widespread myths.
The official version announced after the death of the emperor, according to which pneumonia was the cause of his death, does not stand up to criticism either.

In fact, Peter I had a neglected inflammation of the urethra (he suffered from this disease since 1715, according to some reports, even since 1711). The disease worsened in August 1724. The attending physicians - the Englishman Horn and the Italian Lazaretti unsuccessfully tried to cope with it. From January 17, 1725, Peter no longer got out of bed, on January 23 he lost consciousness, to which he never returned until his death on January 28.

"Peter on his deathbed"
(artist N.N. Nikitin, 1725)

Doctors performed the operation, but it was too late, 15 hours after it, Peter I died without regaining consciousness and without leaving a will.

So, all the stories about how at the last moment the dying emperor tried to inscribe his last will on his will, but he managed to write only "Leave everything..." are also nothing more than a myth, or a legend if you like.

In the next short part , so as not to make you sad, I will bring historical anecdote about Peter I , which, however, also belongs to the myths about this controversial personality.

Thank you for attention.
Sergey Vorobyov.

Peter I Alekseevich - the last Tsar of All Russia and the first Emperor of All Russia, one of the most prominent rulers of the Russian Empire. He was a real patriot of his state and did everything possible for its prosperity.

From his youth, Peter I showed great interest in different things, and was the first of the Russian tsars who made a long journey across the countries of Europe.

Thanks to this, he was able to accumulate a wealth of experience and carry out many important reforms that determined the direction of development in the 18th century.

In this article, we will consider in detail the features of Peter the Great, and pay attention to the traits of his personality, as well as his successes in the political arena.

Biography of Peter 1

Peter 1 Alekseevich Romanov was born on May 30, 1672 c. His father, Alexei Mikhailovich, was the king of the Russian Empire, and ruled it for 31 years.

Mother, Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina, was the daughter of a small local nobleman. Interestingly, Peter was the 14th son of his father and the first of his mother.

Childhood and adolescence of Peter I

When the future emperor was 4 years old, his father Aleksey Mikhailovich died, and Peter's elder brother, Fedor 3 Alekseevich, was on the throne.

The new tsar took up the education of little Peter, ordering him to be taught various sciences. Since at that time a struggle was waged against foreign influence, his teachers were Russian clerks who did not have deep knowledge.

As a result, the boy did not manage to get a proper education, and he wrote with errors until the end of his days.

However, it is worth noting that Peter I managed to compensate for the shortcomings of basic education with rich practical lessons. Moreover, the biography of Peter I is remarkable precisely for his fantastic practice, and not for his theory.

The story of Peter 1

Six years later, Fedor 3 died, and his son Ivan was to ascend to the Russian throne. However, the legal heir turned out to be a very sickly and weak child.

Taking advantage of this, the Naryshkin family, in fact, organized a coup. Enlisting the support of Patriarch Joachim, the Naryshkins made young Peter king the very next day.

26-year-old Peter I. The portrait by Kneller was presented by Peter in 1698 to the English king

However, the Miloslavskys, relatives of Tsarevich Ivan, declared the illegality of such a transfer of power and the infringement of their own rights.

As a result, in 1682, the famous Streletsky revolt took place, as a result of which two tsars, Ivan and Peter, were on the throne at the same time.

From that moment on, many significant events took place in the biography of the young autocrat.

It is worth emphasizing here that from an early age the boy was fond of military affairs. By his order, fortifications were built, and real military equipment was used in staged battles.

Peter 1 put on uniforms on his peers and marched with them along the city streets. Interestingly, he himself acted as the drummer in front of his regiment.

After the formation of his own artillery, the king created a small "fleet". Even then, he wanted to dominate the sea and lead his ships into battle.

Tsar Peter 1

As a teenager, Peter 1 was not yet able to fully manage the state, so his half-sister Sofya Alekseevna was regent with him, and then his mother Natalya Naryshkina.

In 1689, Tsar Ivan officially transferred all power to his brother, as a result of which Peter 1 became the only full-fledged head of state.

After the death of his mother, his relatives, the Naryshkins, helped him to manage the empire. However, the autocrat soon freed himself from their influence and began to independently rule the empire.

The reign of Peter 1

From that time, Peter 1 stopped playing war games, and instead began to develop real plans for future military campaigns. He continued to wage war in the Crimea against, and also repeatedly organized the Azov campaigns.

As a result, he managed to take the Azov fortress, which was one of the first military successes in his biography. Then Peter 1 began to build the port of Taganrog, although there was still no fleet as such in the state.

From that time on, the emperor set himself the goal of creating a strong fleet at all costs in order to have an impact on the sea. For this, he made sure that young nobles could learn ship craft in European countries.

It is worth noting that Peter I himself also learned to build ships, working as an ordinary carpenter. Because of this, he gained great respect among ordinary people who watched him work for the good of Russia.

Even then, Peter the Great saw many shortcomings in the state system and was preparing for serious reforms that would forever write his name in.

He studied the state structure of the largest European countries, trying to learn from them all the best.

During this period of the biography, a conspiracy was drawn up against Peter 1, as a result of which a streltsy uprising was to take place. However, the king was able to suppress the riot in time and punish all the conspirators.

After a long confrontation with the Ottoman Empire, Peter the Great decided to sign a peace agreement with it. After that, he started a war with.

He managed to capture several fortresses at the mouth of the Neva River, on which the glorious city of Peter the Great will be built in the future.

Wars of Peter the Great

After a series of successful military campaigns, Peter the Great managed to open an exit to what would later be called the “window to Europe”.

Meanwhile, the military power of the Russian Empire was constantly growing, and the fame of Peter the Great was worn throughout Europe. Soon the Eastern Baltic was annexed to Russia.

In 1709, the famous one took place, in which the Swedish and Russian armies fought. As a result, the Swedes were completely defeated, and the remnants of the troops were taken prisoner.

By the way, this battle is superbly described in the famous poem "Poltava". Here's a snippet:

There was that vague time
When Russia is young
In struggles, straining strength,
She grew up with the genius of Peter.

It is worth noting that Peter 1 himself took part in the battles, showing courage and courage in battle. By his example, he inspired the Russian army, which was ready to fight for the emperor to the last drop of blood.

Studying the relationship of Peter with the soldiers, one cannot but recall the famous story about the negligent soldier. More on this.

An interesting fact is that at the height of the Battle of Poltava, an enemy bullet shot through Peter I's hat, passing a few centimeters from the head. This once again proved the fact that the autocrat was not afraid to risk his life for the sake of defeating the enemy.

However, numerous military campaigns not only took the lives of valiant warriors, but also depleted the country's military resources. It got to the point that the Russian Empire found itself in a situation where it was required to simultaneously fight on 3 fronts.

This forced Peter 1 to reconsider his views on foreign policy and make a number of important decisions.

He signed a peace agreement with the Turks, agreeing to give them back the Azov fortress. By making such a sacrifice, he was able to save many human lives and military equipment.

After some time, Peter the Great began to organize campaigns to the east. Their result was the annexation of such cities as Semipalatinsk and.

Interestingly, he even wanted to organize military expeditions to North America and India, but these plans never came true.

But Peter the Great was able to brilliantly carry out the Caspian campaign against Persia, having conquered Derbent, Astrabad and many fortresses.

After his death, most of the conquered territories were lost, since their maintenance was not profitable for the state.

Reforms of Peter 1

Throughout his biography, Peter 1 implemented many reforms aimed at the good of the state. Interestingly, he became the first Russian ruler to call himself emperor.

The most important reforms concerned military affairs. In addition, it was during the reign of Peter 1 that the church began to submit to the state, which had never happened before.

The reforms of Peter the Great promoted development and trade, as well as a move away from outdated lifestyles.

For example, he taxed the wearing of a beard, wishing to impose European standards of appearance on the boyars. And although this caused a wave of discontent on the part of the Russian nobility, they still obeyed all his decrees.

Every year, medical, naval, engineering and other schools were opened in the country, in which not only the children of officials, but also ordinary peasants could study. Peter the Great introduced a new Julian calendar, which is still used today.

While in Europe, the king saw many beautiful paintings that boggled his imagination. As a result, upon his arrival in his homeland, he began to provide financial support to artists in order to stimulate the development of Russian culture.

In fairness, it must be said that Peter I was often criticized for the violent method of implementing these reforms. In fact, he forcibly forced people to change their thinking, as well as carry out projects conceived by him.

One of the most striking examples of this is the construction of St. Petersburg, which was carried out in the most difficult conditions. Many people could not stand such loads and ran away.

Then the families of the fugitives were imprisoned and stayed there until the perpetrators returned back to the construction site.

Peter I

Soon Peter 1 formed a body of political investigation and court, which was transformed into the Secret Chancellery. Anyone was forbidden to write in closed rooms.

If anyone knew about such a violation and did not report it to the king, he was subjected to the death penalty. Using such harsh methods, Peter tried to fight anti-government conspiracies.

Personal life of Peter 1

In his youth, Peter 1 loved to be in the German Quarter, enjoying a foreign company. It was there that he first saw a German woman, Anna Mons, with whom he immediately fell in love.

His mother was against his relationship with a German woman, so she insisted that he marry Evdokia Lopukhina. An interesting fact is that Peter did not contradict his mother, and took Lopukhina as his wife.

Of course, in this forced marriage, their family life could not be called happy. They had two boys: Alexey and Alexander, the last of whom died in early childhood.

Alexei was to become the legal heir to the throne after Peter 1. However, due to the fact that Evdokia tried to overthrow her husband from the throne and transfer power to her son, everything turned out completely differently.

Lopukhina was imprisoned in a monastery, and Alexei had to flee abroad. It is worth noting that Alexei himself never approved of his father's reforms, and even called him a despot.

Peter I interrogates Tsarevich Alexei. Ge N.N., 1871

In 1717, Alexei was found and arrested, and then sentenced to death for participating in a conspiracy. However, he died while still in prison, and under very mysterious circumstances.

Having dissolved his marriage with his wife, in 1703 Peter the Great became interested in 19-year-old Katerina (nee Marta Samuilovna Skavronskaya). A whirlwind romance began between them, which lasted for many years.

Over time, they got married, but even before marriage, she gave birth to daughters Anna (1708) and Elizabeth (1709) from the emperor. Elizabeth later became empress (ruled 1741-1761)

Katerina was a very intelligent and perceptive girl. She alone managed, with the help of affection and patience, to calm the king when he had acute attacks of headache.

Peter I with the insignia of the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called on the blue St. Andrew's ribbon and a star on his chest. J.-M. Nattier, 1717

They were officially married only in 1712. After that, they had 9 more children, most of whom died at an early age.

Peter the Great truly loved Katerina. In her honor, the Order of St. Catherine was established and a city in the Urals was named. The name of Catherine I also bears the Catherine Palace in Tsarskoe Selo (built under her daughter Elizabeth Petrovna).

Soon, another woman, Maria Cantemir, appeared in the biography of Peter 1, who remained the favorite of the emperor until the end of his life.

It is worth noting that Peter the Great was very tall - 203 cm. At that time he was considered a real giant, and was a cut above everyone else.

However, the size of his legs did not match his height at all. The autocrat wore shoes of size 39 and was very narrow at the shoulders. As an additional support, he always carried a cane with him on which he could lean.

Death of Peter

Despite the fact that outwardly Peter 1 seemed to be a very strong and healthy person, in fact he suffered from migraine attacks throughout his life.

In the last years of his life, he also began to suffer from kidney stones, to which he tried not to pay attention.

At the beginning of 1725, the pains became so severe that he could no longer get out of bed. His health deteriorated every day, and his suffering became unbearable.

Peter 1 Alekseevich Romanov died on January 28, 1725 in the Winter Palace. The official cause of his death was pneumonia.

The Bronze Horseman - a monument to Peter I on Senate Square in St. Petersburg

However, an autopsy showed that death was due to inflammation of the bladder, which soon developed into gangrene.

Peter the Great was buried in the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg, and his wife Catherine I became the heir to the Russian throne.

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