Russian history...round one...

Exactly how 'great' was Peter?

Sometime last year, I stumbled across a myspace profile that rather fascinated me...an American who was proclaiming that he was rather enjoying being a 'Hooker'. I sent him an initial email saying that I hoped that he meant that he was a hooker of the rugby variety rather than the 'working guy' type as I would very much like to chat with him and bearing in mind that I have been to many rugby matches in my time but only visited a small number of male prostitutes, I felt that this would give us rather more to talk about. He replied with a *laugh* saying that although he did love rugby (what a coincidence...I adore rugby!) he was a 'Hooker' of the Chinook helicopter variety..he never did reply to my question about whether or not he is also a 'man of the night' but I'm assuming not :)  We exchanged a series of long, rambling emails that touched upon many weird and wonderful subjects. As we chatted, we stumbled upon many common interests and passions, one of which was a shared love of Russian history. We had planned to discuss this and many subjects during his trip over here in November but somehow we never did manage to get round to all things Russian (FAR too busy yelling at each other about politics as we wandered through the streets of London and far too busy chatting about an assortment of other random drivel the rest of the time). Anyway, we have recently decided to pick up this thread and have chosen the subject of Peter The Great as out first port of call. Over the past few days, we've discussed how to conduct this debate over a rather large ocean and a whole continent and we have decided to do it through a series of posts on here. I'm yet to be convinced about how this will work but am always game to try new things so here goes..

Peter The Great ruled Russia from 1682 to 1725, although he did not gain sole control of the country until 1694 (such was Peter's long and often tortuous route to power that we could discuss the events of the period from 1682 to 1694 as a subject in their own right..and maybe we shall!). During his time in power, Russia went through what I would suggest was one of the most dramatic and far-reaching periods of change in its history, second only to the events of the years following the revolutions of 1917 in terms of impact and far-reaching consequences.

Much of the historical debate that surrounds Peter and his time in control of Russia is based around an analysis of just how 'great' he was. This subject, along with more general analysis of his reign, has always totally polarised opinion and Peter has been proclaimed, both by his contemporaries and by historians throughout the centuries since his death, as either a virtually super-human hero or as the Antichrist. He is seen by many as the great moderniser of Russia, the architect of a Russia based on a western model of government, an outstanding war time leader and military commander, a reformer of state, military, education and religion and  the designer of a society built around the concept of a meritocracy, in an age where traditionally birth right and breeding were considered to be the main determinents of success. Of course, any period of such dramatic change will always come at a cost and can only be achieved to the detriment of those with either a vested interest in the 'old order' or those who will bear the financial burden that inevitably accompanies such all-encompassing reform.

Many liberals of the time revered Peter and saw him as a champion of light against darkness, as the leader who had single-mindedly dragged Russia away from its isolationist Muscovite past and into an era where she was aligning herself much more with was was viewed as a more enlightened and progressive west. Those who vilified Peter were  those whom he had either fiscally over-burdened or who were brutally subjugated to pave the way for his reforms. Under his rule the Strestsy, the elite Russian military corps founded by Ivan the Terrible to defend and protect the tsar, were eventually disbanded after taking part in a plot to over-throw Peter, but not until after over a thousand of its ranks were tortured and then executed, their mangled bodies put on public display as a warning to any others who were thinking of standing in Peter's way. Later in his reign, he sanctioned the torture and execution of his own son and it is recorded that on other occasions Peter was more than willing to carry out the role of executioner himself. In order to pay for his reforms of the military, the building of St Petersburg, his military campaigns and other measures, he raised taxation dramatically, with the lowest members of society, the serfs or slaves, often bearing the brunt of the burden.

I shall leave my final conclusions about how I would view Peter's reign in terms of 'greatness' until I've had a chance to chew the fat with Jeff and look in more detail at a lot of the issues discussed above. I'm thinking though that my verdict will fall somewhere in the middle and will to a large extent echo those of the writer Pushkin, who recognised the brilliance and necessity of Peter's reforms but who lamented the human price that was paid in order to instigate them.