PETER I, Alexiewitsch, the Great, czar and emperor of Russia, born at Moscow, May 30 (June 11, new style), 1672, was the eldest child of the czar Alexis Michailowitsch, by his second wife, Natalia Kirilowna, daughter of a Russian boiar. Blessed with a healthy constitution and a vigorous mind, Peter attracted general attention while he was but a child; and Alexis wished to pass by his two elder sons, the sickly Feodor and the feeble Ivan, and appoint Peter his successor. But the ambitious Sophia, daughter of Alexis by his first marriage, prevented the elevation of her half-brother. Feodor III, howev-` er, the successor of Alexis (1676—1662), passed over Ivan, and named Peter, yet a minor, his successor. On the death of Feodor, Peter was accordingly proclaimed czar. But Sophia excited a rebellion of the Strelitzes, by the report that Ivan had been put to death by Peter, and that her own destruction was resolved upon. When Ivan afterwards appeared, the Strelitzes exclaimed, "Thou art our czar!” "I will be so," answered the trembling Ivan, "only on condition that my dear brother shall share my throne." Peter was, therefore, crowned with Ivan, June 23, 1682. The Strelitzes again rebelled; but Peter escaped with his mother to a monastery, which protected him from the fury of the insurgents. In the mean time, the cavalry of the czar hastened to his rescue, and overpowered the rebels, thirty of whom were beheaded to prevent future seditions. But Sophia, taking advantage of the weakness of Ivan and the youth of Peter, became constantly more assuming: her name was finally subscribed to the imperial ukases with those of the two czars, and her image was stamped on the reverse of the coins. Peter, meanwhile, was silently developing his manly and warlike spirit. He formed two companies of soldiers from the young men of his own age, in whose ranks he himself served. Their commander was the young Lefort. (q. v.) Sophia considered this amusement as well calculated to remove her brother from state affairs, and heard with pleasure of the excesses in which Peter and his favorites indulged. But the accomplished and enthusiastic Lefort was instilling a large amount of valuable knowledge into the mind of the inquisitive czar, in whom the early instructions of Sotow (an experienced diplomatist), and Francis Timmermann (a German mathematician), and the lessons of his mother, had already laid a solid foundation for the improvement of his mind and the

formation of his character. Sophia herself soon perceived his superior talents, when, in the beginning of 1688, he appeared, for the first time, in the privy council. In 1689, Peter's marriage with Eudoxia Federowna Lapuchin, effected through the influence of his prudent mother, withdrew him from his former orgies, and gave him a new hold on the affections of the people. Sophia, having desired to be present, as regent, at a religious celebration, at which the czars themselves were commonly present, Peter opposed it in vain; and, a few faithful Strelitzes having betrayed to him her intention to assassinate him with his wife, mother, and sister, he took refuge with them in the monastery of Troizkoi. Here he summoned to his aid general Gordon, a Scotchman, who, with all the foreign officers, immediately hastened to Peter. The czar soon found himself surrounded by numerous friends, and Sophia was obliged to take the veil. Peter then made a solemn entry into Moscow, and, in sight of all the people, embraced his brother Ivan, who left all the power in the more able hands of his brother. The first aim of Peter was the formation of a standing army, according to the European tactics. Lefort and Gordon trained the new troops, among whom were a great number of Huguenots, who had fled to Russia, after the repeal of the edict of Nantes. Peter soon saw himself surrounded by 20,000 well disciplined troops, and, at the same time, engaged in forming a naval force. His father, Alexis, desirous to trade with Persia by means of the Caspian sea, had procured a ship to be built by some Dutch shipwrights, which arrived at Astrachan, but was there burned by the Cossacks, and of the crew only two, one of whom was the gunner, Karsten Brand, returned to Moscow. Brand now became Peter's principal ship-builder, and, in 1693, the emperor sailed to Archangel in his own ship, the St. Peter, to purchase clothes for his army. In 1794, he entered Archangel with several Russian vessels, and appointed prince Romanadowski admiral of the fleet. Regarding commerce as of the utmost importance for the civilization of his subjects, he cast his eyes upon the Black and Baltic seas, into which the great rivers of his empire emptied themselves. Being at war with the Porte, he first turned his attention to the outlet of the Don; at this point, he wished to conquer Azoph, to procure an emporium on the Black sea. In July, 1695, he commenced the attack by land, but

soon found it necessary to change the storming to a blockade. In the mean time, he hastened back to Moscow, embraced his dying brother Ivan, and furnished his subjects, who were suffering from the bad crops, with corn from Riga and Dantzic, in Russian ships. At the same time, he collected skilful engineers and artillerists from Austria, Brandenburg and Holland, and introduced greater uniformity into the army, of which the boiar Alexis Semenowitsch was the nominal commander, while Gordon, Lefort and Golowin were in fact its soul. The new shipyard, at Woronesch, on the Don, furnished him, as early as 1696, with a fleet of 23 galleys, two galleasses, and four fire-ships, with which he defeated the Turkish fleet, in sight of Azoph. All relief by sea being now cut off, he pushed the siege with renewed vigor, and in two months (July 29) the Russians entered Azoph. To secure the possession of this key to the Black sea, Peter ordered fifty-five ships of war to be built, and a canal to be constructed connecting the Volga and the Don, and sent a number of the young nobles to Italy and Holland, to learn the art of ship-building, and to Germany to become acquainted with military discipline. After having suppressed (Feb. 2, 1697) a conspiracy of the Strelitzes and several noblemen against his life, in which he displayed much personal courage, he travelled in foreign countries. The affairs of the government, during his absence, were committed to prince Romanadowski and three boiars; and the Strelitzes were dispersed throughout the country, to secure the internal tranquillity of the empire. He set out on his celebrated journey in April, 1697, travelling, not in the character of czar, but as a member of an embassy, which was to visit foreign courts, according to the old Russian custom. Having passed through Esthonia, Livonia (countries then belonging to Sweden), Brandenburg, Hanover and Westphalia, he arrived at Amsterdam, where he worked, incognito, in a Dutch ship-yard. From Amsterdam, he went to the village of Saardam, where he appeared in the dress of his own country, and caused himself to be enrolled among the workmen, under the name of Peter Michaeloff. Here he lived in a little hut for seven weeks, made his own bed, and prepared his own food, corresponded with his ministers at home, and labored at the same time in ship-building. He then returned to Amsterdam, and superintended the building of a ship of war of sixty guns, which he sent to Archangel. Noth

ing passed him unobserved; he caused every thing to be explained to him, and even performed several surgical operations. The petition of the Jews of Holland to be received into his country he refused. He was induced, by his love for the sea, to accept the invitation of king William III to visit London. Here Peter resided in the royal ship-yard, and often declared that, if he were not czar of Russia, he would be an English admiral. He took into his service upwards of 500 persons— officers, engineers, cannoneers, surgeons, &c. He received a doctorate from the university of Oxford, and, after a stay of three months, went through Holland and Dresden to Vienna. But an insurrection of the Strelitzes induced him to hasten home, and he arrived at Moscow Sept. 4, 1698. The insurrection had already been suppressed by Gordon; but Peter erected a bloody tribunal; every day of the succeeding month saw the blood of the rebels flow; and as there were the strongest reasons to suspect his sister-Sophia of being the author of this disturbance, he caused twenty-eight gibbets to be erected, and 130 of the conspirators to be executed before her monastery; and three of them, who had drawn up a petition to Sophia, were hung before the windows of her cell, with the petitions in their hands. Five hundred were banished; the corps of the Strelitzes was abolished, and the last remains finally became extinct in Astrachan in 1705. It was probably merely from personal dislike that he accused his wife Eudoxia, who was impatient of his amours, of being engaged in the conspiracy. She was banished to Suzdal, where she was obliged to take the veil, under the name of Helen. To reward his faithful adherents, he established the order of St. Andrew, August 30, 1698, which Golowin was the first to receive. The death of his favorite Lefort and of Gordon plunged him into the deepest grief. Menzikoff (q. v.), who rose from obscurity by his talents and activity, now became the favorite of Peter. He supplied the place of the Strelitzes by twenty-seven new regiments of infantry, and two of dragoons (in all 32,029 men), who, within three months, were disciplined and brought into marching order. Nothing but merit and length of services was regarded in the appointment of officers. Peter devoted himself with incessant activity to the internal regulation of his empire, which assumed, by degrees, the appearance of a new creation. The manner of collecting the public taxes was simplified; the Ger

man costume was introduced; beards began to disappear; the numerous retinue of the boiars was diminished; foreign travel was in a manner necessary to secure the prince's favor; printing presses were set up, and useful works introduced; schools were established in all the large towns; and new ecclesiastical institutions organized. When the patriarch Adrian died, at Moscow, in 1700, the czar left this office, but little inferior in authority to the papal, unfilled. The armistice of two years between Russia and Turkey, stipulated in the peace of Carlovitza, between the Porte and Austria, was prolonged (1700) to thirty years; but, at the same time, war was declared against Sweden. Patkul (q. v.) had now matured the alliance of the czar with Augustus, king of Poland, and no indications of good will on the part of the young Charles XII, of Sweden, could divert Peter from his designs. (See Northern War.) Peter occupied Ingria, and attacked Narva. The young king of Sweden (see Charles XII) flew to its relief, and defeated 38,000 Russians with 8000 Swedes, November, 30, 1700. This defeat did not shake the resolution of Peter. "I know," said he, "that the Swedes will often defeat us, but we are learning. Our turn to conquer will come at last." Fresh troops were immediately assembled, arms were provided, and the victory of the Russians over the Swedes on the Embach (Jan. 1, 1702), laid the first foundation for their future triumphs. Noteburg (which received from Peter the name of Schlusselburg) and Marienburg were taken; among the inhabitants of the latter, who were carried into Russia, was the orphan Catharine. (q. v.) After a triumphal entry into Moscow, and a short delay at Woronez, Peter returned to the theatre of the war on the Baltic, where Menzikoff had been throwing up fortifications for the protection of the new docks, at the influx of the Olonza into lake Ladoga. For the same purpose, on the first of May, Peter took Nyenschantz, a fortress at the mouth of the Neva. Four days after, with thirty small vessels, on board of which he served as captain of bombardiers, he took two Swedish ships of war at the mouth of the same river. To reward him for his services on this occasion, admiral Golowin created him knight of St. Andrew. As Nyenschantz was too far from the sea, and not sufficiently secure, Peter determined to construct a new fort, to protect the mouth of the Neva. He here built a small wooden hut, in the Dutch style,

from which he superintended his new work. May 27, 1703, the foundation of the fortress was laid, which the ezar called St. Petersburg. The work was commenced under the direction of an Italian architect, and 20,000 men, from every part of the empire, were soon employed upon it. While engaged in this work, he determined to build a city, which should serve as a commercial emporium, to connect Russia with the rest of Europe. In four months, the fortress of St. Petersburg was completed, and the city was also gradually rising. Many of the workmen, unwilling to undertake the long journey to their homes, settled here, where they were besides welcomed by the czar, as they were serviceable in erecting houses for the rich. Many Swedes, Finns and Livonians, driven from home by war, eagerly hastened to the new city, where they received the land in their own right; so that, in two years (1705), besides VasiliOstrov, where the first private houses were built, the island of St. Petersburg and the admiralty quarter were settled. (See Petersburg.) Under the direction of Menzikoff, the fortress of Cronschlot arose from the sea, at a short distance, for the protection of Petersburg. More than 8000 horses, and as many men, perished in the labor of transporting the materials for building; but in March of the following year, the cannons thundered from the walls of Cronschlot. In the mean time, Austria, Holland and England made every exertion to destroy the alliance of Peter with Augustus of Poland. Charles left his great enemy in the heart of Livonia, and marched to Saxony to compel Peter's ally to abdicate his throne. Peter, on the other hand, commenced his new operations by the destruction of a Swedish flotilla of thirteen ships on lake Peipus. Dorpat, Narva and Ivangorod were captured, and the Swedish army was finally destroyed under the walls of Pultawa (July 8, 1709). The czar, now promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general in the army, and rear-admiral in the fleet, wrote from the field of battle to admiral Apraxin in Petersburg-"Our enemy has experienced the fate of Phaeton, and the foundation of our city on the Neva is, at length, firm." Peter immediately hastened back to his favorite city on the Neva, where he made preparations to connect lake Ladoga with the Wolga, and concluded commercial treaties with France, Italy and the Hanseatic towns. Having celebrated his victory by a triumphal entry into Moscow, and reorganized the army, consisting of 33 regi

ments of infantry, 24 of cavalry, and 58,000 garrison troops, he commenced his campaign in Livonia and Carelia, which were conquered in 1710. The Turks, instigated by Charles XII, had, meanwhile, declared war against him. Peter immediately established a senate to administer the affairs of the empire, and, having restored to the bishoprics and monasteries the property before taken from them, in order to gain the favor of the clergy and the nation, he advanced to the Pruth, opposite the camp of Mehemed, the grand-vizier. The soldiers were here reduced to the greatest extremes from want of provision, and their condition was the more desperate on account of the defection of the prince of Walachia, and his refusal to furnish the promised supplies. Peter, nevertheless, crossed the river, but was forced to retreat, and his exhausted army was surrounded by a numerous enemy. Peter saw nothing before him but captivity or death. He was delivered from this difficulty by his new wife, Catharine (whom he had privately married in 1707, and declared his lawful wife March 6, 1711). Assisted by the field-marshal Scheremeteff, she sent to the grand-vizier proposals of peace. A large sum of money, and valuable jewels, with promises of further remittances, all without the knowledge of Peter, are said to have accompanied the letter of Scheremeteff to the grand-vizier. During this time, Peter, despairing of any favorable results from this mission, and reduced to despondency, wrote to the senate in Moscow-"If I fall into the hands of the enemy, consider me no longer as your sovereign, and obey no commands which shall proceed from the place of my confinement, though it should be signed by my own hand. If I perish, choose the worthiest among you to succeed me." July 23, 1711, the peace of Hus was concluded, in spite of all the opposition of count Poniatowski, the agent of Charles XII. Peter purchased his own safety, and that of his army and empire, by the sacrifice of Azoph. (See Russia, and the Ottoman Empire.) Cantemir, prince of Moldavia, whom Peter refused to give up on any condition, followed the czar, and continued to receive from him a pension until his death, twelve years afterwards. He now applied himself with great activity to the prosecution of the war in Pomerania against Sweden. To restore his health, he went to Carlsbad, in the summer of 1711, and, on his return to Moscow, publicly solemnized his marriage with Catharine (Feb. 19, 1712). The trans

lation of the senate of regency to Petersburg took place two months later. In June 1712, he again visited Carlsbad, with hi wife. After having taken the waters three weeks, he proceeded to his army in Holstein, where Steenbock, the Swedish general, had obtained some successes over the Danes. He shut up this general in Tönningen, and returned to Petersburg, to ef fect the conquest of Swedish Finland, and, in 1713, penetrated beyond Abo to Tavasthus, while the Swedes in Tonningen were compelled to surrender. But the neutrality of Pomerania, proposed by Prussia, and consented to by Menzikoff, thwarted his plans: for this act, even the intercession of the czarina was hardly able to save the favorite from ruin. Peter continued his efforts to improve the Russian marine; but he was obliged to submit when the college of admiralty refused to promote him to the dignity of vice-admiral, "because he had not sufficiently distinguished himself at sea, to be preferred over other officers." His chief object was now to merit that distinction. Having obtained the naval victory at Twermunde, and completed the subjugation of Finland by the subsequent capture of the fortress of Nyslot, he was received, on his triumphal entry into Petersburg, by the viceczar Romanadowski, with the salutation,

Hail, vice-admiral!" Perceiving the oppressions exercised by the nobility upon the lower classes, he established a board to inquire into abuses. The investigation ended in the exile to Siberia of a great number of civil officers from the first to the third rank, and strict provisions against future abuses. He did not consider it prudent to attempt to abolish slavery for the present. He repaired the devastations which the war had caused in Ingria, by settling in that country a number of rich peasants from the interior of Russia. He exercised the greatest prudence in regard to the religious contests between the Roskolnicks (those of the ancient faith) and the Orthodox, but was obliged to put to death a Roskolnick, who sought to obtain a martyr's crown by assassinating the czar, Events of this nature increased Peter's aversion to Moscow, and confirmed his determination to make Petersburg the capital of the empire. All his commercial ordinances, and his measures for the growth and embellishment of the city, were directed to this object. In the midst of these plans, he was informed that Charles XII had returned, and was now in Stralsund. But as this headstrong prince refused to consent to the neutrality

of Pomerania, and thus offended England as well as Holland, he prepared for the czar the way to new and easy conquests. Stralsund was taken December 23, 1715, by the Prussians and Danes, without the aid of Peter; and in the first impulse of anger, the czar was on the point of siding with Charles, because his troops were refused admittance into the works, and were even driven back by force. Before his visit to Pyrmont for the recovery of his health, he agreed with the king of Denmark upon a landing at Schonen; in pursuance of which, he went to Copenhagen. Four fleets, Russian, Danish, English and Dutch, were united, forming a squadron of 80 sail, partly to cover the disembarkation at Schonen, and partly to make head against the Swedish fleet, which was cruising in the Baltic. The command of the combined fleet was unanimously committed to the czar; and he convoyed 100 merchant vessels, lying in the sound, by the fleet of Sweden. The landing at Schonen was abandoned by the advice of the Russian generals; this excited suspicions in the mind of the Danish king, and Peter left Denmark and took possession of Mecklenburg. For the accomplishment of certain political plans, he undertook a journey to Holland and France, towards the end of 1716. In Amsterdam, besides the naval and commercial objects of his visit, he also attended to all the subjects of art and science. His wife, who visited him after her delivery in February, 1717, remained at the Hague, while Peter, in the beginning of April, went through Brabant to Paris, where he visited all the literary, military, mechanical and other institutions and collections of art, &c., and concluded a treaty of amity and commerce with France, in behalf of himself and Prussia. His main object, the separation of France from England, and his designs on Mecklenburg, were not accomplished. In October, 1717, he returned to Petersburg, and instituted investigations into charges of abuses and acts of oppression. Prince Wolkonski, the governor of Archangel, was shot, and military courts were commissioned to inquire into accusations against others. He then went to Moscow, to judge his only son, Alexis (q. v.), who was condemned to death by the high officers of the empire. Though pardoned shortly after, he is said to have died of the agitation into which the trial and sentence had thrown him. At his funeral, which was solemnized with great pomp, the czar melted into tears. Many persons, in

volved in the guilt of Alexis, were executed with great cruelty. Peter treated with equal severity the nobles who oppressed the people, and did not even spare his favorites Menzikoff and Apraxin. He endeavored to introduce a more regular administration of justice by the institution of the colleges of the governments, and a legislative committee, taking the code of his father, Alexis, for the basis of his new system. A commercial college was also erected, and the commercial class treated with distinction. His amusements consisted in ornamenting his capital, collecting a cabinet of natural curiosities, encouraging art, and raising the tone of society; he, likewise, provided amusements for the court and people, by public shows, masquerades, &c. (among which the papal election, intended to expose the head of the Roman church to ridicule, was particularly remarkable). Peter now landed troops on almost every point of the Swedish coast, and commenced a war of devastation, never to be forgotten in the annals of that country. Jealousy of the growing power of Russia united Poland, Prussia and Denmark with Sweden. But Peter resisted all, and maintained his dignity in a dispute with Austria. He banished the Jesuits from the empire, because they meddled with affairs in which they had no concern, and prepared for a conflict with England. In 1719, all the English merchants in Russia were arrested, and threatened with the seizure of their property. Peter was now called to endure the severest trials, in the death of Scheremeteff, his companion in arms, and (on the 25th of April, old style) of the heir to the throne, Peter Petrowitsch, his son by Catharine, born November 8, 1717. The czar remained alone for three days and three nights after the death of his son, without food or drink; fears were at length entertained for his life. But he resumed his firmness, and one of his first measures was the institution of the "holy directing synod," designed to put an end to the hierarchy. (See Greek Church.) In 1720, Sweden was again devastated; the Swedish king having resolved on the invasion of Finland, with the aid of an English fleet. Peter, however, continued his negotiations, while he prepared for action, and directed the construction of the port of Royerwick. At length a third expedition against the Swedish coasts, successfully conducted by Peter in 1721, in spite of the English fleet, led to the peace of Nystädt (August 30, 1721, old style), by which Livonia, Esthonia, Ingria, with