I. Childhood and youth of Peter, before the start of the Swedish war Peter the Great was born in Moscow on May 30, 1672, at night, and was baptized on June 29 of the same year in the Chudov Monastery. His birth was greeted by his parent with particular joy. Thanksgiving served for three days in a row

The transformations in Russia continued under Peter I (ruled 1689-1725). The need for them was dictated mainly by external conditions... By the time of Peter I's accession to the throne, Russia was involved in another war with Turkey, in which Austria, Poland, Venice and the state of the Order of Malta became its allies. In 1696 the Russian army took the strongest Turkish fortress of Azov.

Russia could not count on the successful continuation of the war with Turkey without allies, whose attention was diverted by the next major conflict between the leading European powers - England, France, Austria and Spain (it resulted in the war for the Spanish succession in 1700-1715). In 1700, peace was concluded between Russia and Turkey.

Inspired by the Azov victory over the Ottoman Empire, Peter I decided to oppose Sweden, providing Russia with access to the Baltic Sea and to the trade routes.

Sweden was the strongest power in Northern Europe, it controlled all the major ports on the Baltic Sea. The anti-Swedish coalition included Russia, Denmark, Saxony and Rzeczpospolita (the king of Saxony, August l l was simultaneously the king of Poland). The Great Northern War began (1700-1721).

Despite the relatively small number population (about 3 million people). Sweden had a first-class army and a strong fleet, the young Swedish king Karl XII (1697-1718), who came to the throne at the age of 15, seized the initiative. His troops landed at Copenhagen, which forced Denmark to withdraw from the war. In the battle of Narva in 1700, Karl XII defeated the Russian army and attacked Poland. Having occupied Warsaw, Krakow, Torun, the Swedish king achieved the deposition of August l l from the Polish throne, in 1706 Saxony made peace with the Swedes.

The first of the reforms of Peter I, begun after Narva, were associated with the reorganization of the army. He dismissed the rifle regiments and introduced a recruiting recruitment system that existed until 1874. Under it, from 20 households (later from the number of males) young people were annually called up for life service (25 years). This made it possible to create a large professional army, and then a fleet, the development of which was given Special attention... The construction of military manufactories was launched, which made it possible to equip the army with the most modern weapons for its time.

Later, reforms of the system of state administration were carried out, which increased the concentration of power in the hands of the monarch. Boyar Duma was replaced by a new supreme authority - the Senate. Its members were appointed by the king. Instead of orders, collegia were established with a clear delineation of functions, their leaders became members of the Senate. The Church lost all independence: the patriarchate was abolished, the management of church affairs was entrusted to the Holy Synod, acting as a collegium.

The system of local government organization was also reformed. The country was divided into 8 provinces (they, in turn, were divided into counties), headed by governors appointed by the king. They had full local authority. Subsequently, in order to avoid an excessive concentration of power in the hands of the governors, they were left with only military functions, the provinces were divided into provinces, and the functions of city self-government were expanded.

The taxation system was also reformed, the household tax was replaced by the poll tax. As the war required more and more funds, new taxes were introduced - for making coffins, wearing beards, fishing, etc. To control the collection of taxes and to combat abuses of power in the localities, a control and auditing institute of fiscal was created, headed by the chief fiscal, which was a member of the Senate and was directly subordinate to the king.

An important measure to increase the efficiency of the institutions of power was the introduction in 1722. "Table of Ranks". The principle was established, according to which the occupation of higher positions was allowed only after passing all the steps of the career ladder. It was clearly recorded, the achievement of which ranks in the army, navy and civil service provides a basis for obtaining a noble rank. At the same time, on the one hand, the principle of entitlement was established (inheritance of estates by the eldest sons), on the other hand, the serving nobility received not land, but a monetary allowance. An incentive was created to attract the younger sons of the nobility, the literate and educated children of the townspeople to public service, which, like the army, acquired a professional character.

The activities of Peter l and its results began to cause controversy back in the 19th century, they were especially aggravated in domestic science XX century.

One point of view was that Peter's reforms did Russia more harm than good. Its supporters, the Slavophiles of the 19th century, paid attention primarily to the fact that the first emperor of Russia tried to remake it in the European way, did not respect the customs and traditions of his country. They emphasized the tsar's cool attitude to Orthodoxy, they did not like his desire to force the Russian nobility to wear European clothes, the willingness to trust more foreign advisers and people from the lower classes than the Russian nobility.

During the Soviet period in the history of Russia, special attention was paid to the fact that the transformations carried out by Peter I were largely carried out by increasing levies and taxes from the peasantry. This became the reason for a number of large Bossstany peasants and townspeople (the uprising in Astrakhan in 1705-1706, the uprising on the Don under the leadership of K. Bulavin in 1707-1709 :). Construction of a new northern capital- St. Petersburg was conducted literally on the bones of serfs, driven into a foggy and swampy region at the mouth of the Neva from all over Russia.

At the same time, most historians did not deny that with all negative features the policies of Peter I, the despotic inclinations that he often showed, his reforms served to strengthen the military and economic might of Russia.

Peter's reforms, no doubt, made it possible to repulse the Swedes, the Russian army successfully operated in the Baltic States. In spite of the betrayal of the Ukrainian hetman I. Mazepa (1644-1709), who went over to the side of the Swedes, the troops of Karl Xll who invaded Russia were defeated near Poltava in 1709. The Swedish king fled to Turkey, which also entered the war against Russia. The campaign against Turkey was unsuccessful. Russia had to cede Azov to the Ottoman Empire, but the outcome of the war with Sweden was already predetermined.

Russia's allies in the anti-Swedish coalition resumed hostilities, and Prussia joined them. After the victory of the Russian fleet in the naval battle at Cape Gangut in 1714, the Swedish troops were driven out of Finland, the Russian landing forces threatened Stockholm.

In these conditions, the leading countries of Europe began to fear that the complete defeat of Sweden would lead to an upset of the balance of power on the continent. In 1721, through the mediation of France, the Peace of Nishtad was concluded, according to which part of Finland with Vyborg and the Baltic States (Livonia, Estland, Ingermanland) passed to Russia. Russia received ice-free ports on the Baltic Sea and expanded its opportunities for European trade. In 1721, Peter I was proclaimed emperor, which placed him above most of the monarchs of Europe.

The year 1699 was dedicated to preparations for the war with Sweden. Within three months, 25 infantry and 2 dragoon regiments were recruited and trained. In October, a Polish-Danish-Russian agreement was reached on the war against Sweden. The entry of Russia into the war, which Poland and Denmark were supposed to start, was to take place after the conclusion of peace with Turkey. On August 8, 1700, Peter received a message that such an agreement had been signed. On August 9, Russian troops moved to Narva.

However, in 1700, the Russian army was not yet the victorious army that it later became. The foreign officer who trained the soldier wrote that they “are so good in themselves that you cannot find better in the whole world, but there is no main thing - direct order and teachings. " How not to recall the words of the ambassadors who asked Rurik to come to rule over the Russians: “Our land is rich, there is just no order in it”. Narva turned out to be such a defeat for the Russians that Europe decided that Muscovy would not show itself again soon. Only two regiments from the entire army managed to resist: Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky. And these two regiments cost the rest of the army, both Russian and Swedish. Through their efforts, the remnants of the troops managed to leave Narva without much shame.

Peter learned a lesson from Narva. During the year, national officers were trained. Were introduced standards for armament: muskets and guns. Recruitment was introduced, which later became the only way to recruit an army. The introduction of a bayonet doubled the army. This is due to the fact that before that, half of the companies were supplied with fuzei, half with melee weapons. At the same time, only half of the army participated in the battle - firing was fired at long distances, in hand-to-hand combat the rest of the army acted. The introduction of an attached bayonet made it easy to switch from hand-to-hand combat to shooting and vice versa.

On December 29, 1701, Russian troops won their first victory: Sheremetyev's dragoons defeated Schlipenbach's detachment. This was the first victory of the regular Russian army. It is from this moment that the history of the army begins - the winner, which our army has recommended itself. October 11, 1702 Noteburg fell. On May 1, 1703, Nyenschantz surrendered. And on May 16, Peter began the construction of a new city - St. Petersburg. It was a very bold step on his part. But by this action, Peter showed that he did not intend to give up the newly captured lands. In addition to the construction of St. Petersburg, the construction of the Baltic fleet began. Already in 1703, Russia had several 25-35 gun frigates and galleys. The Swedish king Karl made attempts to break through to St. Petersburg in 1704 and 1705, but they ended in his defeat. Having captured Ingria, Peter solved two tasks at once: he received a "window to Europe" and cut the Swedish army into two parts. Now it was possible to take up the occupation of the Baltic states.

In 1705, Russian troops moved to Poland to help their allies. However, the allies were more likely to restrain Peter's actions than to provide any assistance. With great difficulty, the Russian units managed to get out of Grodno, where they were abandoned by the Polish king Augustus. Emboldened by his successes, Karl was preparing to march to Moscow. However, he did not have a definite plan for the company. After wandering around Belarus and the Baltic states, the Swedes went to Ukraine, where Hetman Mazepa was waiting for them. But entering the interior of the country, the Swedes were faced with a lack of provisions, destroyed by the Russians and partisans. The position of the Swedish army became more and more critical. To help her from Sweden was the Levengaupt corps with a large baggage train. The combination of the two armies would lead to a significant strengthening of the Swedes. But then Karl made a huge mistake. Instead of making a connection, he confidently turned inland. Taking advantage of this, Peter sent a "corvolant" ("flying corps") to Levengaupt. In a battle near the town of Propoisk near the village of Lesnoy on September 28, 1708, Russian troops utterly defeated the Swedes. The prize for the battle was a huge baggage train.

Realizing that help would not come, Karl decided to capture Poltava, which contained both supplies and gunpowder. However, the seemingly weak fortress held out until the arrival of the main parts, albeit with the last bit of strength. Peter arrived in the army operating near Poltava on June 4. On June 16, it was decided to give the Swedes a battle. By agreement with them, the battle was scheduled for June 29. But Karl decided to attack the Russians earlier. However, the factor of surprise was lost due to defectors. On June 27, the Poltava battle took place. Here Peter first used fortifications in a field battle. The redoubt system inflicted enormous damage on the Swedes with its crossfire. The result of the battle was 9 thousand killed and 22 thousand captured Swedes. The Russians had losses of 1,345 killed and 3,290 wounded. At the end of the battle, Peter threw a banquet with the captured Swedish generals. During the banquet, Peter offered to drink to the Swedish teachers. To this Field Marshal Reinschild replied: - "Well, the students thanked their teachers."

The Battle of Poltava was for the Swedes what Stalingrad became for the Germans or Dunkirk for the British. Sweden could not quickly recover from the loss of the army. But she still had a fleet. In 1710 Riga and Vyborg fell. Riga, Peter took revenge, giving his own first three shots at its walls. During the summer of 1710 everything was taken South coast Finland. But this year brought not only victories, but also defeats. The war with Turkey began again, which ended in the defeat of Russia. Under the terms of the treaty, Russia was losing Azov and had to tear down the Taganrog fortress.

In 1712-1714, Russian troops captured all of southern Finland and the central European possessions of Sweden. On July 27, 1714, the Swedish fleet was defeated at Cape Gangut. Sweden was now completely weakened. Russia, on the other hand, has become one of the major powers. All she had to do was to move her troops so that the issues were resolved in her favor. Peter entered into several political marriages between his daughters and the offspring of European rulers. An interesting fact is that before Gangut, Peter asked the higher naval authorities to promote him to the next rank - to vice admiral. But he was denied this on the pretext that when he "excelled in something special, then he would be given the rank of vice admiral." In 1718, peace negotiations began. They were interrupted due to the death of Charles during the storming of the Norwegian fortress. Ulrika-Eleanor ascended the Swedish throne, determined to continue the war. In 1719, Russian troops landed near Stockholm. In 1720, the Russian fleet defeated the Swedish fleet off Grengam Island in front of the British. The British by that time were so worried about Russia's successes that they wanted to enter the war on the side of Sweden. Fortunately, they did not dare to do this, fearing to damage Russian-English trade.

On August 30, 1721, a treaty was signed in Nystadt that ended the Northern War. According to it, Russia received Estonia, Livonia, Ingria, Karelia and part of Finland with Vyborg. On this occasion, celebrations were arranged in St. Petersburg. On October 20, Peter announced the forgiveness of all convicts, the cancellation of arrears, and the release of state debtors. On the same day, the Senate awarded Peter the title of Emperor, the name of the Great and Father of the Fatherland.

The Northern War is over. During this time, Peter managed to bring the country out of the provincial Muscovy to Russian empire... The fleet sailed the Baltic Sea. The army forced to reckon with the opinion of Russia on any issue. True, the road to the empire was covered with bones of working people. The empire was created by the enormous exertion of the entire people. During the Northern War, the troops more than once had to fight with their own people, suppressing uprisings.

Peter I went down in history as one of the greatest statesmen Russia. First Russian emperor known not only as the author of many reforms and transformations, but also as an outstanding commander. Active foreign policy Russia, aimed at expanding territories and strengthening borders, under the leadership of Peter the Great, brought the country the title of a naval power. Having achieved an exit to Baltic Sea- that his predecessors did not succeed, Peter I turned the country into a strong and economically developed empire.

The largest military conflict during the reign of Peter I - the war with Sweden - ended in complete and absolute victory for Russia. The Great Northern War brought the country a long-awaited outlet to the Baltic Sea, and after that - the development of new sea ​​routes, extension foreign trade, economic development and an increase in weight in the European political arena. In addition, the results of the victory were new land areas, and first of all - the land around the Neva, where St. Petersburg was built, future capital empire.

After the signing of the Nystadt Peace Treaty, in 1721, two higher legislative body countries - the Senate and the Synod - invited Peter to accept the title of emperor. In the fall of 1721, the country received a new name - the Russian Empire.