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A review by komet2020
Peter the Great by Robert K. Massie
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
5.0
In sum, it has taken me 22 years to finish reading what was a magnum opus of a biography. This is not to suggest that I lost interest in reading Peter the Great: His Life and Work in all that time. Not at all. I confess to being a peripatetic reader, who sometimes flits about like a hummingbird from book to book. There were moments when I would put this book aside when I chanced upon another whose subject matter commanded my attention and interest. Nevertheless, I was determined to return to reading about the life of a most extraordinary man and monarch who can be said truly by his personality and force of will to have shaped the destiny of a nation.
Peter was born into a Russia that stood in the shadows of Europe. A nation held together by autocracy in the person of the Tsar, an aristocracy jealous of its privilege and power, and the Russian Orthodox Church. He ascended to the throne in 1682, age 10, as part of a joint ruling arrangement with his half brother, Ivan V, while Ivan's 25 year old sister Sophia was made regent. This was a rather precarious arrangement in which Peter's position was not altogether secure. Sophia largely excluded him from governmental affairs and one of the most powerful factions in the government, the Moscow streltsy, had killed some of Peter's supporters, and was set on maintaining an iron grip.
Peter, unlike his predecessors, grew up with wide-ranging interests which he was largely free to pursue. He "enjoyed noisy outdoor games and took especial interest in military matters, his favourite toys being arms of one sort or another. He also occupied himself with carpentry, joinery, blacksmith’s work, and printing." Furthermore, his interest in the outside world was stoked by his exposure to what was a "German colony" not far from where he lived. Peter also became fascinated with seafaring upon finding a derelict English sailboat. Though he was given an incomplete education, Peter developed a lifelong fascination with mathematics, the sciences, fortifications, and navigation.
At 17, Peter entered into an arranged marriage with Eudoxia, and they had a son, Alexis. But the marriage was more of a political act to show that Peter was capable of thinking for himself and exerting his authority. By 1698, having lost interest in his wife, Peter had her relegated to a convent. In the interim, the streltsy had staged a revolt in 1689 which Sophia tried to use to her advantage in staging a coup, thus consolidating her position on the throne. But she miscalculated and events redounded to Peter's advantage. He removed her from power and banished her into a convent. Subsequently, when the streltsy attempted another revolt in 1698 and failed, Peter compelled Sophia to become a nun. What's more: upon Ivan's death, Peter became the undisputed ruler of Russia. (He would go on to marry one of his mistresses, a Lithuanian servant girl, who he would make Tsaritsa Catherine, to whom he was devoted and she devoted to him until his death.)
Peter, at 6'8", was someone who commanded respect and inspired fear in those who were opposed to his moves in opening up Russia to the West and his modernization schemes and programs. He first travelled to Europe in the late 1690s, spending a considerable amount of time in Holland (where he learned first-hand all the rudiments of shipbuilding and navigation in a country that was then one of the leading maritime powers) and England. He also encouraged foreigners with skills he deemed essential in modernizing his nation to come to Russia, where their rights to worship were respected (provided they did not try to act in opposition to his rule) and they were accorded freedoms denied to most Russians.
Peter also set out to build a navy, modernize the army, and acquire territory so that Russia would be more closely integrated with the West. Thus, Russia became involved in a long, protracted war (1700-21) with Sweden, then a great continental power controlling large swaths of Scandinavia, northern Germany, and the Baltic States. He also involved the country in a war with the Ottoman Empire in an attempt to expand Russian power and authority in the south to the Sea of Azov, the Crimea, and the Black Sea. While the war with the Ottomans resulted in some reversals for Peter, he was able to prevail -- despite heavy odds -- against the Swedes and concluded a peace treaty with them in 1721 that secured the gains he had made in acquiring much of the Baltic States and an expanse of land bordering on modern Finland. It was also during this time that Peter built a great northern city on the Neva River -- St. Petersburg, which he made the nation's capital, moving much of the governmental offices there from Moscow.
All in all, this was an engaging and fascinating story. I'm glad I stuck with it. But if I had it to do all again, I would have finished reading Peter the Great much, much, much sooner.
Peter was born into a Russia that stood in the shadows of Europe. A nation held together by autocracy in the person of the Tsar, an aristocracy jealous of its privilege and power, and the Russian Orthodox Church. He ascended to the throne in 1682, age 10, as part of a joint ruling arrangement with his half brother, Ivan V, while Ivan's 25 year old sister Sophia was made regent. This was a rather precarious arrangement in which Peter's position was not altogether secure. Sophia largely excluded him from governmental affairs and one of the most powerful factions in the government, the Moscow streltsy, had killed some of Peter's supporters, and was set on maintaining an iron grip.
Peter, unlike his predecessors, grew up with wide-ranging interests which he was largely free to pursue. He "enjoyed noisy outdoor games and took especial interest in military matters, his favourite toys being arms of one sort or another. He also occupied himself with carpentry, joinery, blacksmith’s work, and printing." Furthermore, his interest in the outside world was stoked by his exposure to what was a "German colony" not far from where he lived. Peter also became fascinated with seafaring upon finding a derelict English sailboat. Though he was given an incomplete education, Peter developed a lifelong fascination with mathematics, the sciences, fortifications, and navigation.
At 17, Peter entered into an arranged marriage with Eudoxia, and they had a son, Alexis. But the marriage was more of a political act to show that Peter was capable of thinking for himself and exerting his authority. By 1698, having lost interest in his wife, Peter had her relegated to a convent. In the interim, the streltsy had staged a revolt in 1689 which Sophia tried to use to her advantage in staging a coup, thus consolidating her position on the throne. But she miscalculated and events redounded to Peter's advantage. He removed her from power and banished her into a convent. Subsequently, when the streltsy attempted another revolt in 1698 and failed, Peter compelled Sophia to become a nun. What's more: upon Ivan's death, Peter became the undisputed ruler of Russia. (He would go on to marry one of his mistresses, a Lithuanian servant girl, who he would make Tsaritsa Catherine, to whom he was devoted and she devoted to him until his death.)
Peter, at 6'8", was someone who commanded respect and inspired fear in those who were opposed to his moves in opening up Russia to the West and his modernization schemes and programs. He first travelled to Europe in the late 1690s, spending a considerable amount of time in Holland (where he learned first-hand all the rudiments of shipbuilding and navigation in a country that was then one of the leading maritime powers) and England. He also encouraged foreigners with skills he deemed essential in modernizing his nation to come to Russia, where their rights to worship were respected (provided they did not try to act in opposition to his rule) and they were accorded freedoms denied to most Russians.
Peter also set out to build a navy, modernize the army, and acquire territory so that Russia would be more closely integrated with the West. Thus, Russia became involved in a long, protracted war (1700-21) with Sweden, then a great continental power controlling large swaths of Scandinavia, northern Germany, and the Baltic States. He also involved the country in a war with the Ottoman Empire in an attempt to expand Russian power and authority in the south to the Sea of Azov, the Crimea, and the Black Sea. While the war with the Ottomans resulted in some reversals for Peter, he was able to prevail -- despite heavy odds -- against the Swedes and concluded a peace treaty with them in 1721 that secured the gains he had made in acquiring much of the Baltic States and an expanse of land bordering on modern Finland. It was also during this time that Peter built a great northern city on the Neva River -- St. Petersburg, which he made the nation's capital, moving much of the governmental offices there from Moscow.
All in all, this was an engaging and fascinating story. I'm glad I stuck with it. But if I had it to do all again, I would have finished reading Peter the Great much, much, much sooner.