Having visited European countries, Peter 1 heard about it. Royal revenge. How the Great Embassy of Peter I was remembered in Europe. List of used literature
Soon after returning to the capital in 1697, the king went abroad with the Great Embassy. He was the first Russian monarch to appear abroad. Peter traveled incognito, in the retinue of the “great embassy,” under the name of Peter Alekseevich Mikhailov, a sergeant of the Preobrazhensky regiment. The purpose of the trip was to reaffirm ancient friendship and love. The embassy was headed by generals Franz Lefort and Fyodor Alekseevich Golovin. They had 50 retinue people with them. Peter left Moscow and the state in the hands of the Boyar Duma. And so, through Riga and Libau, the embassy went to Northern Germany. In Riga, which belonged to the Swedes, Peter received a number of unpleasant impressions both from the population (who sold food to the Russians at high prices) and from the Swedish administration. The governor of Riga (Dalberg) did not allow the Russians to inspect the fortifications of the city, and Peter looked at this as an insult. But in Courland the reception was more cordial, and in Prussia Elector Frederick greeted the Russian embassy extremely cordially. In Konigsberg, a number of holidays were given for Peter and the ambassadors. Between the fun, Peter seriously studied artillery and received a diploma from Prussian specialists, recognizing him as a skilled firearms artist. After some excursions in Germany, Peter went to Holland. In Holland, Peter first of all went to the town of Saardam; there were famous shipyards there. In Saardam, Peter began to do carpentry and ride on the sea. Peter then moved to Amsterdam, where he studied shipbuilding at the East India Dockyard. Then England, Austria followed, and when Peter was getting ready for Italy, news came from Moscow about a new revolt of the archers. Although a report soon arrived that the riot had been suppressed, Peter hurried home. On the way to Moscow, passing through Poland, Peter met with the new Polish king Augustus II, their meeting was very friendly (Russia strongly supported Augustus during the elections to the Polish throne). Augustus offered Peter an alliance against Sweden, and Peter, taught by the failure of his anti-Turkish plans, did not refuse the same refusal as he had previously answered in Prussia. He agreed in principle to the alliance. So, he took abroad the idea of expelling the Turks from Europe, and from abroad he brought the idea of fighting Sweden for the Baltic Sea.
What did traveling abroad give you? Its results are very great: firstly, it served to bring the Moscow state closer to Western Europe, and secondly, it finally developed the personality and direction of Peter himself. For Peter, the journey was the last act of self-education. He wanted to get information on shipbuilding, and in addition received a lot of impressions, a lot of knowledge. Peter spent more than a year abroad, and, realizing the superiority of the West, he decided to raise his state through reforms. Upon returning to Moscow on August 25, 1968, Peter immediately began reforms. At first he starts with cultural innovations, and then a little later he carries out reforms of the government system
The beginning of reforms in Russia.
Abroad, Peter’s political program basically took shape. Its ultimate goal was the creation of a regular police state based on universal service; the state was understood as the “common good.” The tsar himself considered himself the first servant of the fatherland, who was supposed to teach his subjects by his own example. Peter's unconventional behavior, on the one hand, destroyed the centuries-old image of the sovereign as a sacred figure, and on the other hand, it aroused protest among part of society (primarily the Old Believers, whom Peter cruelly persecuted), who saw the Antichrist in the tsar. Having finished with the archers, Peter set out to weaken the power of the boyars. Peter's reforms began with the introduction of foreign dress and the order to shave the beards of everyone except peasants and the clergy. So, initially, Russian society turned out to be divided into two unequal parts: one (the nobility and the elite of the urban population) was intended to have a Europeanized culture imposed from above, the other preserved the traditional way of life. In 1699, a calendar reform was also carried out. A printing house was created in Amsterdam to publish secular books in Russian, and the first Russian order was founded - St. Apostle Andrew the First-Called. The Tsar encouraged training in crafts, created numerous workshops, introducing Russian people (often forcibly) to the Western style of life and work. The country was in dire need of its own qualified personnel, and therefore the king ordered young men from noble families to be sent abroad to study. In 1701, the Navigation School was opened in Moscow. The reform of city government also began. After the death of Patriarch Adrian in 1700, a new patriarch was not elected, and Peter created the Monastic Order to manage the church economy. Later, instead of the patriarch, a synodal government of the church was created, which remained until 1917. Simultaneously with the first transformations, preparations for war with Sweden were intensively underway.
War with the Swedes.
In September 1699, the Polish ambassador Karlowitz came to Moscow and proposed to Peter, on behalf of Poland and Denmark, a military alliance against Sweden. The agreement was concluded in November. However, in anticipation of peace with Turkey, Peter did not enter into the war that had already begun. On August 18, 1700, news was received of the conclusion of a 30-year truce with Turkey. The Tsar reasoned that the Baltic Sea was more important for access to the West than the Black Sea. On August 19, 1700, Peter declared war on Sweden (Northern War 1700-1721). The war, the main goal of which was to consolidate Russia in the Baltic, began with the defeat of the Russian army near Narva in November 1700. However, this lesson served Peter well: he realized that the reason for the defeat was primarily in the backwardness of the Russian army, and with even greater energy he set about rearming it and creating regular regiments, first by collecting “dacha people”, and from 1705 by introducing conscription . The construction of metallurgical and weapons factories began, supplying the army with high-quality cannons and small arms. Many church bells were poured into cannons, and weapons were purchased abroad using confiscated church gold. Peter gathered a huge army, putting serfs, nobles and monks under arms, and in 1701-1702 he came close to the most important port cities of the eastern Baltic. In 1703, his army captured the swampy Ingria (Izhora land), and there on May 16, at the mouth of the Neva River on the island renamed by Peter from Yanni-Saari to Lust-Eiland (Jolly Island), a new capital was founded, named in honor of the Apostle Peter St. St. Petersburg. This city, according to Peter’s plan, was to become an exemplary “paradise” city. During these same years, the Boyar Duma was replaced by a Council of Ministers consisting of members of the Tsar’s inner circle; along with Moscow orders, new institutions were created in St. Petersburg. The Swedish king Charles XII fought in the depths of Europe with Saxony and Poland and neglected the threat from Russia. Peter did not waste time: fortresses were erected at the mouth of the Neva, ships were built at shipyards, the equipment for which was brought from Arkhangelsk, and soon a powerful Russian fleet arose on the Baltic Sea. Russian artillery, after its radical transformation, played a decisive role in the capture of the fortresses of Dorpat (now Tartu, Estonia) and Narva (1704). Dutch and English ships appeared in the harbor near the new capital. In 1704-1707, the tsar firmly consolidated Russian influence in the Duchy of Courland.
Concerned about attracting foreign technicians to Russia, Peter decided, for better establishment of maritime affairs in Russia, to create Russian technicians, for which he sent noble youth abroad “to study architecture and ship management.” Fifty young courtiers were sent to Italy, England and Holland, i.e. to countries then famous for the development of navigation.
High Moscow society was unpleasantly surprised by this innovation; Peter not only made friends with the Germans himself, but apparently wants to make friends with others as well. The Russian people were even more amazed when they learned that Peter himself was going abroad.
But before the king had time to get ready for the journey, a series of alarming events occurred. In 1697, a simple monk Abramius presented the king with a manuscript filled with reproaches. Avramiy wrote that Peter behaved “sadly and deplorably”, deviated from fun, and the state was ruled by bribe-taking clerks. Peter responded to these reproaches with a strict investigation and exile of Abramia and his friends. Even earlier, Peter tortured his wife’s uncle P. A. Lopukhin for something; other Lopukhins were sent out from Moscow. Obviously, they were also dissatisfied with Peter for something. Thus, by the time Peter reached manhood, dissatisfaction with him in different strata of society also increased. In some circles, discontent turned into a definite intent to kill Peter. An investigation carried out just before his departure abroad revealed that the main conspirators for the life of the sovereign were the boyars Sokovnin and Pushkin, and the Streltsy Colonel Tsikler. They presented the motives for the assassination attempt as the cruelties and innovations of Peter and wanted to outrage the archers. Tsikler also accused Sophia of complicity. In this case, the perpetrators were executed. Believing Sophia's complicity and seeing in the conspiracy against himself the seed sown by Yves. Mich. Miloslavsky, Peter took revenge on both Sophia and Miloslavsky (who had already died in 1685) by ordering Miloslavsky’s coffin to be dishonorably dug up and placed under the block so that when the conspirators were executed, the blood of those executed would flow onto it.
After this fierce revenge, having eliminated suspicious persons from Moscow for the sake of the state and his own security, Peter went abroad.
Journey. Peter traveled incognito, in the retinue of the “great embassy,” under the name of Peter Alekseevich Mikhailov, a sergeant of the Preobrazhensky regiment. The sending of a great embassy to the Western powers (Germany, England, Holland, Denmark, Brandenburg, also to the Pope and Venice) was decided back in 1696. The purpose of the embassy was “to confirm ancient friendship and love” with European monarchs and “to weaken enemies of the Cross of the Lord", i.e. in achieving an alliance against the Turks. The embassy was headed by generals Franz Lefort and Fyodor Alekseevich Golovin. They had 50 retinue people with them. We do not know how Peter then explained the purpose of his own journey. Contemporaries judged the Russian Tsar’s unprecedented trip to foreign lands in a variety of ways. Some said that Peter was going to Rome to pray to St. Peter and Paul; others - that he just wants to have fun; some thought that Peter was carried away abroad by Lefort. Peter himself later, recalling his trip, wrote that he went to study maritime affairs. This explanation is, of course, the most correct, but it is too narrow. Peter wanted to learn more than one maritime trade, as we will see below.
Peter left Moscow and the state in the hands of the Boyar Duma. This was not an unknown novelty under him: the tsar had not been in Moscow for a long time before, leaving for Arkhangelsk and near Azov. Officially it was believed that the sovereign did not leave; matters were decided in his name, the boyars did not receive any special powers. Some researchers note that the only emergency measure taken during Peter’s departure was the removal of suspicious persons (like the Lopukhins) from Moscow.
To achieve the goal of an alliance against the Turks, the embassy had to go first of all to Vienna. But since the Russian resident in Vienna just at that time managed to continue the alliance with the emperor for three years, the embassy, bypassing Vienna, went to Northern Germany by sea through Riga and Libau. In Riga, which belonged to the Swedes, Peter received a number of unpleasant impressions both from the population (who sold food to the Russians at high prices) and from the Swedish administration. The governor of Riga (Dalberg) did not allow the Russians to inspect the fortifications of the city, and Peter looked at this as an insult. In Courland, however, the reception was more cordial, and in Prussia (then still in the Electorate of Brandenburg), Elector Frederick greeted the Russian embassy extremely cordially. In Konigsberg, a number of holidays were given for Peter and the ambassadors. Between the fun, Peter seriously studied artillery and received a diploma from Prussian specialists, recognizing him as a “skilled firearms artist.” Meanwhile, the Russian embassy was conducting lively negotiations about an alliance with the Brandenburg government; but the Russians wanted an alliance against the Turks, and the Prussians against the Swedes, and the matter ended in nothing. After some excursions in Germany, Peter went to Holland ahead of his companions. On the way there he met two Electors (of Hanover and Brandenburg), who left us his description. “He has beautiful facial features and noble bearing,” writes one of them; “he has great agility of mind; his answers are quick and correct. But with all the virtues that nature has endowed him with, it would be desirable for him to have less rudeness. This sovereign is very good and at the same time very bad; morally, he is a complete representative of his country. If he had received a better upbringing, he would have turned out to be a perfect man, because he has many virtues and an extraordinary mind." Peter's rudeness was expressed in the absence of that social restraint to which German princesses were accustomed. At the beginning of the conversation with the princesses, Peter was very embarrassed and covered his face with his hands. “It is also clear that he has not been taught to eat neatly,” noted another Elector. Peter never completely mastered this social restraint, it seems, but later he lost his timidity and shyness.
In Holland, Peter first of all went to the town of Saardam (Saandam); there were famous shipyards there, which he had heard about back in Russia. In Saardam he began to work as a carpenter and in his spare time to ride on the sea. But his incognito, poorly maintained in Germany, was violated here too; Peter Mikhailov was recognized as Tsar Peter, and the whole city was eager to look at the strange guest. Peter was angry, complained, even beat annoying onlookers, but the crowd did not allow him to work in peace at the shipyard or relax in his modest house (this house was donated by the Netherlands to Russia in November 1886 and accepted by our government). The angry Peter, having stayed in Saardam for only a week, moved to Amsterdam, where he remained from mid-August 1697 to January 1698, only briefly traveling to The Hague and other cities. In Amsterdam, he studied shipbuilding at the East India Dockyard and achieved considerable success, but was dissatisfied with Dutch shipbuilding. Already in Russia he learned carpentry, and in Holland he sought to study the theory of shipbuilding. But the Dutch built ships by skill, not knowing how to draw up ship drawings, not knowing the theory of naval art. This is what made Peter angry. “He felt extremely disgusted,” he wrote about himself, “that he had taken such a long path for this, but had not reached the desired end.” He accidentally learned that the theory of shipbuilding was developed by the British, and decided to go to England; he sent an order to Moscow to subordinate the Dutch craftsmen at the Voronezh shipyard to the Venetian and Danish craftsmen.
Peter failed in his pursuit of maritime affairs, and the Russian embassy in The Hague also failed: Holland rejected any participation in the war against the Turks. Peter left Holland with a feeling of displeasure, but nevertheless he learned a lot there. Simultaneously with work at the shipyard, he studied mathematics, astronomy, drawing and engraving, he visited various museums, listened to lectures in medicine, was interested in all branches of positive knowledge, looked closely at various mechanical improvements, and became acquainted with maritime industries (for example, whaling). Getting used to the peculiarities of the brilliant, prosperous and enlightened Dutch life, Peter acquired a lot of new cultural impressions, developed and educated himself.
In England, where Peter moved without an embassy at the beginning of 1698, the same thing happened as in Holland. Peter studied the theory of shipbuilding and military affairs, rode along the Thames and took a closer look at English life, moving in a wide variety of spheres. English engineers, technicians, and sailors made a better impression on Peter than the Dutch ones, and he diligently invited them to Russia. But political and court life in England was of little interest to Peter (the same was true in Holland), and high English society had reason to consider Peter a “misanthrope” and a “sailor.” Avoiding court ceremonies, Peter behaved so freely and strangely for a monarch that he met condemnation from the English court, which was “tired of the Tsar’s whims,” as one diplomat wrote.
In April 1698, Peter returned to Holland, to the embassy, to go with him to Vienna. He reached Vienna only in June and lived there for about a month. Greeted very cordially by Emperor Leopold, he examined Vienna, and meanwhile negotiations between Russian and Viennese diplomats in the war with the Turks were actively underway. With surprise and annoyance, Peter saw that Austrian politicians not only did not share his plans of conquest for Turkey, but did not even want to continue the sluggish war that had been waged until then. The Russians said that if the emperor already wants peace, then it should be concluded in the interests of not Austria alone, but all allies. But this thought did not find sympathy in Vienna. Peter became convinced that the coalition against the Turks, which he dreamed of, was impossible, that Russia should also make peace with Turkey if it did not want to fight with it one on one.
In July, the tsar thought about going from Vienna to Italy, but received news from Moscow about a new mutiny of the archers. Although a report soon arrived that the riot had been suppressed, Peter hurried home. On the way to Moscow, passing through Poland, Peter saw the new Polish king Augustus II (at the same time the Elector of Saxony); their meeting was very friendly (Russia strongly supported Augustus during the elections to the Polish throne). Augustus offered Peter an alliance against Sweden, and Peter, taught by the failure of his anti-Turkish plans, did not refuse the same refusal as he had previously answered Prussia. He agreed in principle to the alliance. Thus, he took abroad the idea of expelling the Turks from Europe, and from abroad he brought the idea of fighting Sweden for the Baltic Sea.
What did Peter's trip abroad give him? Its results are very great: firstly, it served to bring the Moscow state closer to Western Europe, and secondly, it finally developed the personality and direction of Peter himself.
Taking advantage of the tsar's stay abroad, European governments hastened to extract all sorts of benefits for their countries from relations with him. Russia's diplomatic relations with the West have become much more vibrant since Peter's travels. Russian diplomats and students, who came to the West together with the embassy and separately from it, introduced Europeans to Russia. In turn, foreigners flocked to Rus' in droves as a result of the invitation of Peter himself and his delegates. The extraordinary fact of the Moscow Tsar’s journey aroused the curiosity of the entire Western European society both to the personality of the Tsar and to his people. In German universities, the topic of debate was Peter's trip and the future enlightenment of Russia as a result of this trip. The philosopher Leibniz drew up educational projects for the transformation of Rus'. Europe, seeing Peter's behavior, guessed that the result of the enlightenment of Peter himself would be the enlightenment of his state. Therefore, Peter's trip became a very popular subject for political and cultural discussions.
For Peter herself, the journey was the last act of self-education. He wanted to get information on shipbuilding, and in addition received a lot of impressions, a lot of knowledge. He spent more than a year abroad, always in a crowd, among various people, among different national cultures. He not only saw the cultural and material superiority of the richest countries of the West over his poor Russia, but also got used to the customs of these countries, became like his own person in them and could not return to the old worldview. Realizing the superiority of the West, he decided to bring his state closer to it through reform. We can safely say that Peter matured as a reformer abroad. But Peter’s entire upbringing, his entire life in Moscow led to a certain one-sidedness in his self-education abroad: the conqueror of Azov and the creator of the Russian fleet, Peter stood far from issues of internal governance of the Moscow state. And abroad, Peter was attracted by maritime and military affairs, culture and industry, but relatively little was occupied by the social structure and administration of the West. Upon returning to Moscow, Peter immediately begins “reforms” and finally breaks with old traditions; but his first steps on the path of reform do not yet concern state life. He comes with cultural innovations par excellence and puts them into practice with great sharpness. He moves on to the reform of government and administration much later.
The Grand Embassy left Moscow for Europe to search for allies in the war with the Ottoman Empire in March 1697. It was headed by the great ambassadors - F. Lefort, F. A. Golovin and P. B. Voznitsyn. The embassy included diplomats, translators, volunteers who went to study naval affairs and shipbuilding (among whom was Pyotr Mikhailov, a member of the Preobrazhensky Regiment - Tsar Peter I himself), priests, doctors, servants, soldiers and security officers, and cooks. The total number was more than 250 people. The embassy's convoy consisted of thousands of sleighs.
The embassy had to complete several important tasks: to enlist the support of European countries in the fight against Turkey; thanks to the support of European powers, get the northern coast of the Black Sea; invite foreign specialists to Russian service, order and purchase military materials, weapons, etc.
Peter I formally followed incognito, but his conspicuous appearance easily gave him away. And the tsar himself, during his travels, often preferred to personally lead negotiations with foreign rulers.
"Now an academician, now a hero,
Now a sailor, now a carpenter -
He is an all-encompassing soul
There was a worker on the eternal throne"
A.S. Pushkin
IN The great embassy is the diplomatic mission of the Russian Tsar Peter I Alekseevich to Western Europe.
The embassy set the task not only of tourism, but on the principle of looking at others and showing oneself... and it also had a diplomatic mission, educational mission, etc.
The purpose of the embassy was “to confirm ancient friendship and love” with European monarchs and “to weaken the enemies of the Holy Cross,” that is, to achieve an alliance against the Turks.
Its practical result was the creation of prerequisites for organizing a coalition against Sweden.
Peter himself later, recalling his trip, wrote that he went to study maritime affairs. This explanation is, of course, the most correct, but it is too narrow. Peter was clearly being modest.
The following were appointed as great plenipotentiary ambassadors: Franz Yakovlevich Lefort - admiral general, Novgorod governor, Fyodor Alekseevich Golovin - general and military commissar, Siberian governor, Prokofy Bogdanovich Voznitsyn - Duma clerk, Belyov governor.
With them there were more than 20 nobles and up to 35 volunteers, among whom was the sergeant of the Preobrazhensky Regiment Pyotr Mikhailov - Tsar Peter I himself. Formally, Peter followed incognito, but his noticeable appearance and hectic character easily gave him away. Peter intervened in everything and often negotiated himself.
An open sheet with which Peter I traveled abroad under the name of Peter Mikhailov. 1697. RGADA
The embassy was sent to Austria, Saxony, Brandenburg, Holland, England, Venice and the Pope. The embassy's path followed through Riga and Koenigsberg to Holland, then to England, from England the embassy returned back to Holland, and then it visited Vienna; The embassy did not reach Venice.
In Riga, which was then a possession of Sweden, Peter wanted to inspect the fortifications, but the Swedish governor refused him. The king was very angry and called Riga a “cursed place”... but he spied the fortifications.
In Libau, Peter left the embassy and went incognito by sea to Königsberg, where he was warmly received by the Elector of Brandenburg, Frederick III (who later became the Prussian King Frederick I).
A few years after returning from the Great Embassy, construction of fortresses began on the island of Kotlin. The design of these fortresses was approved personally by the Tsar, and was modeled after the Friedrichsburg fortress, which Peter examined in Königsberg.
In Pillau, the king studied artillery, he was even given a certificate.
In Poland at that time there were double elections between Conti and the Elector of Saxony. To support Augustus, Peter advanced a Russian army to the Lithuanian border. These actions of Peter allowed the Saxon elector to enter Poland and be crowned, converting to Catholicism. At the same time, he gave him his word to provide Russia with support in the fight against the Ottoman Empire and the Crimean Khanate.
In 1697, Peter I descended along the river and canals to Amsterdam. Holland had long attracted the Tsar, and in no other European country of those times did they know Russia as well as in Holland. The house where Peter lived is now a museum.
Having learned about the passion of the Russian Tsar for shipbuilding, the Dutch side laid down a new ship at the Amsterdam shipyard (the frigate “Peter and Paul”), on the construction of which volunteers, including Peter, worked. On November 16, 1697, the ship was successfully launched. But Peter was dissatisfied with the quality of Dutch teaching, demanding more depth and detail.
At the same time, the embassy launched activities to hire foreign specialists for the needs of the Russian army and navy. In total, about 700 people were hired. Weapons were also purchased.
Peter studied the mechanism of a windmill and visited a stationery factory. In the anatomical office of Professor Ruysch, he attended lectures on anatomy and became especially interested in the methods of embalming corpses. In Leiden, at the anatomical theater Boerhawe, Peter himself took part in the dissection of corpses. A passion for anatomy in the future was the reason for the creation of the first Russian museum - the Kunstkamera. In addition, Peter studied engraving techniques and even made his own engraving, which he called “The Triumph of Christianity over Islam.”
Peter I in Holland embraces European values...
Peter then decided to visit England. They crossed the English Channel on the warship York. Peter had never sailed on such a large ship and watched with interest how it was steered. It was stormy, but the king remained on deck, constantly asking questions. Huge waves tossed the ship in all directions, but Peter insisted that he be allowed to climb onto the yards and inspect the rigging.
During his visit to the English king, Peter completely ignored the beautiful art gallery of Kensington Palace, but became very interested in the device for observing the direction of the wind, which was in the king’s room. He observed the work of parliament, but secretly and from above. This episode caused a joke from some unknown eyewitness that went around all of London: “Today I saw the rarest sight in the world: one monarch on the throne, and another on the roof.”
In England, Peter was persuaded to pose for the artist Godfrey Kneller. The portrait he painted, according to contemporaries, was distinguished by its extraordinary similarity to the original. Today this portrait hangs in the Royal Gallery.
Peter I in 1698. Portrait of G. Kneller
The king visited a watchmaker to buy a pocket watch and was stuck there, learning to disassemble, repair and reassemble the intricate mechanism. He liked the way the English coffins were made, and he ordered one to be sent to Moscow as a sample. He bought stuffed crocodile and swordfish - strange creatures never seen in Russia. The only time Peter made it to the London theater, but the crowd looked not so much at the stage as at him... there Peter met Legation Cross, the most famous of the then English actresses. He treated her favorably, and the actress, sensing that she could count on a generous reward, moved to Peter for the entire duration of his visit to England.
At the Greenwich Observatory, Peter talked about mathematics with the royal astronomer. At Woolwich Arsenal, the main cannon foundry in England, Peter found a kindred spirit in Master Romney, who shared his passion for shooting and fireworks.
Peter was very interested in the reform of the English coin, where, due to malicious cutting of valuable metal, a bunch of English coins began to be notched. Two years later, having begun to restore order in the disordered Russian coinage, Peter took English coinage as a model.
There is evidence of how Peter and his company jokingly destroyed the house of one unfortunate Englishman, who charged a large sum for the pogrom. They even drove around the garden in a wheelbarrow, stopping at the wicker fence, trampled the paths, walked on the lawns, smelled the flowers. IMHO this was a way to slightly warm up to Peter and get better than what was agreed upon earlier.
After spending three months in England, Peter returned to Holland. Before leaving, the king distributed 120 guineas to the royal servants, ( which, according to one eyewitness, "was more than they deserved, since they behaved very impudently with him"). And he handed the king a small package in which the king, to his undisguised surprise, discovered a huge uncut diamond worthy of “crowning the crown of the British Empire.” Peter never went to England again, but he forever retained the most pleasant memories of it.
Further, Peter’s path lay through Leipzig, Dresden and Prague to the capital of Austria, Vienna. On the way, news came of the intention of Austria and Venice to conclude a peace treaty with the Ottoman Empire. Long negotiations in Vienna did not produce results.
On July 14, 1698, a farewell meeting between Peter I and the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I took place. The embassy intended to leave for Venice, but unexpectedly news came from Moscow about the mutiny of the Streltsy and the trip was cancelled.
P.B. Voznitsyn was left in Vienna to continue negotiations. However, he only managed to achieve a two-year truce with the Ottoman Empire.
On the way to Moscow, the tsar learned about the suppression of the Streltsy revolt and decided to meet with the King of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Augustus II. The communication between the two monarchs, who were almost the same age, continued for three days. As a result, a personal friendship arose and, according to a secret agreement with the Saxon elector and the Polish king, Augustus was supposed to start a war against Sweden by invading Livonia.
There was a smell of a big war in the air... a conflict was brewing between Russia and Sweden, which later resulted in the Northern War of 1700-1721, which made Russia a Great Empire...
There is a modern version about the alleged substitution of Peter. They say Peter went there knowing the Russian language, knowing how to write, knowing the history of Russia, with a mole and thick wavy hair. A man who could only write in Latin, who had little knowledge of Russian history, returned with a partial loss of memory of his past, without a mole and with thin hair (which can be explained by severe periodic mercury poisoning, which was used to treat fever at that time). When leaving, Peter passionately loved his wife, Queen Evdokia. While away, he often sent her letters. Returning from abroad, the king, without even seeing his wife, without explaining the reason, sends her to a nunnery.
In the summer of 1699, P. Gordon and his friend F. Lefort died “suddenly” (they were removing witnesses). Gordon was the mentor of young Peter, at whose suggestion Peter traveled to European countries incognito. Allegedly, the replacement of Peter occurred during the trip and the reason for the replacement was the intractability of the real king. If this is so, then thank you for the emperor))) Europe has laid a good face on itself. But I don't believe in these tales from the crypt.
Info and pictures (C) Internet
On June 9, 1672, Peter I was born, a ruler who radically changed the course of Russian history. The Tsar's reforms began with his Great Embassy to Europe. Let us recall the main facts of Peter's journey.
During his one and a half year stay abroad, Peter the Great managed to gain knowledge and skills that radically changed him, Russia, his subjects, and, to be honest, Europe itself. We are, of course, talking about the years spent traveling as part of the Great Embassy.
But the king is real!
Two hundred and fifty people - this is the total number of those who set out from Moscow in March 1697. The great plenipotentiary ambassadors were Franz Lefort, General Fyodor Golovin and Duma clerk Prokofy Voznitsyn. Peter personally approved the candidacies of 35 volunteers who were to study “military behavior and maritime affairs” abroad. Among the students was a sergeant of the Preobrazhensky Regiment, Pyotr Mikhailov, who differed from all the others in his two-meter height, extreme curiosity and courage in judgment. Mikhailov did not hesitate to ask questions, sometimes very uncomfortable ones, even to the most senior officials. An astute observer easily recognized this young man as the Russian Tsar.
Dear Dad!
Peter personally supervised the preparations for the Great Embassy. Among other things, it was necessary to draw up certificates to be presented to heads of foreign states. Diplomatic protocol required special treatment of titled nobles. In order not to be fooled, letters drawn up during the reign of Ivan the Terrible, as well as documents from some other non-Catholic states, were studied. But there was a problem with the appeal to the Pope. The translators of the Ambassadorial Prikaz did not sleep all night long, but they could not find out how the kings “write daddy’s title.” Decisive Peter himself formulated an appeal to the Pope: he conveyed his congratulations to the most honorable Innocent and teacher of the Roman Church. It seems that the Pope was pleased, because no war followed.
Excellent combat training
During the Great Embassy, Peter visited Pillau (today this city is called Baltiysk). He went there, naturally, by sea - Peter, it seems, tried to board the ship at every opportunity. The remaining members of the embassy moved by land, so the king had to wait for his subjects in Pillau. The waiting could become tedious for anyone, but not for Peter: he began to study artillery with the Prussian lieutenant colonel Steiner von Sternfeld. After completing the training, the graduate was given a certificate, today we would say a diploma, and a red one at that. Peter showed himself to be a serviceable, skillful, careful, courageous and fearless master. He was a real student - he managed not only to demonstrate obedience and knowledge of the subject, but also to have a lot of fun with local young ladies.
Peter and Pavel
During his journey, Peter managed to build a ship. This happened in the Dutch town of Zaandam, which gained world fame thanks to its many shipyards and shipbuilding workshops. The Russians' passion for shipbuilding became known to the Dutch, and they hastened to lay down the frigate Peter and Paul in Amsterdam. On November 16, the ship was launched, thanks in part to the hard work of Russian volunteers, among whom the tall Pyotr Mikhailov stood out the most. At the same time, by the way, 700 people were recruited - foreigners were supposed to create an army and navy in Russia according to the Western model.
Spared neither the living nor the dead
In Holland, Peter attended a course of lectures by Professor Ruysch on anatomy. The king was especially interested in the methods of embalming corpses - Ruysha was a famous master of such operations. Peter went to the Boerhaave anatomical theater, where he personally took part in the procedure for dissecting bodies. This passion for anatomy laid the preconditions for the creation of the first museum in Russia - the Kunstkamera. During his four and a half month stay in Holland, Peter managed to study the structure of a windmill, visited a stationery factory, and visited numerous workshops, hospitals, orphanages, and factories. He studied engraving techniques and managed to create his own engraving “masterpiece”.
Meeting with Newton
The English king William III (part-time ruler of Holland) personally invited Peter to the British kingdom at the beginning of 1698. The schedule of his stay in the country was very busy, because in three and a half months the king had to get as much information as possible. Naturally, he visited the royal shipyards, but in addition he managed to examine a large number of arsenals, docks, museums, and visit cabinets of curiosities. The king visited the Anglican Church, a meeting of Parliament, the Greenwich Observatory, the Royal Society of England, and the University of Oxford. Studied the process of making watch movements. Peter also visited the English Mint, which was headed by Newton at that time. There is no reliable information about the meeting of two great people, however, knowing Peter, we can assume that the meeting certainly took place.
