Assessment of Peter's reign. Peter I's successors (1725–62)

Assessment of Peter's reign

Contemporaries as well as later historians have given first place among Peter's accomplishments to his conquest of the Baltic provinces and areas on the Caspian Sea. More important was the fact that during his reign Russia became a major European power, in regular intercourse with the major trading powers and especially with Holland and Great Britain. This status of European power, however, burdened Russia with the maintenance of a large and up-to-date military establishment that became involved in many costly conflicts. The new institutional forms that Peter introduced helped to shape a less personal and more modern (i. e., routinized and bureaucratized) political authority. This led to an ambiguous relationship between the autocratic ruler and his noble servants and also to a sense of alienation between the common people and the ruler.

Contemporaries and later generations alike shared the feeling that Peter's reign had been revolutionary—a radical and violent break with the centuries-old traditions of Muscovy. To some extent this was the consequence of Peter's ruthless manner, his dynamism, his harsh suppression of all opposition, and his obstinate imposition of his will. From a historical perspective, Peter's reign may appear to have been only the culmination of 17th-century trends rather than a radical break with the past. But people are more conscious of changes in manners and customs than of deeper transformations that require a long time for their working out. Thus, Russia's cultural Europeanization in the early 18th century produced works of literature in a new manner, using foreign styles and techniques, such as the treatises and sermons of Feofan Prokopovich (Prokopovich, Feofan), Peter's main assistant in church matters, and the satires and translations of Prince Antiokh Kantemir (Kantemir, Antiokh Dmitriyevich), the first modern Russian poet. These writers and many lesser ones praised Peter's work, stressing its innovative and necessary character. The educated elite, reared on the cultural elements introduced by Peter, perceived his reign as the birth of modern Russia. This in itself became the source of critical thought and raised the question of whether the break with the past was desirable or a betrayal of the genuinely national patterns of development of Russian culture. It appeared that forcible imposition of foreign elements had led to an alienation between the elite and the Russian people. This debate as to the nature and value of the reign of Peter I served as the main stimulus to a definition of Russian national culture and to the elaboration of competing political and social philosophies in the 19th century (e. g., those of the Slavophiles (Slavophile) and the Westernizers (Westernizer)). Peter's reign has been at the centre of all debates over Russian history, since any attempt to define its periods and to assess Russia's development in modern times requires a prior judgment of the reign and work of Peter I. (For a more detailed biography, see Peter I. )

Peter I's successors (1725–62)

Peter's unexpected death in 1725 at age 52 left unresolved two major institutional problems. The first was the succession to the throne, which remained unsettled not only because Peter did not choose his own successor but also because during the remainder of the century almost any powerful individual or group could disregard the choice of the preceding ruler. The second problem was the lack of firm central direction, planning, and control of imperial policy; closely related to it was the question of who would have the determining role in shaping policy (i. e., what would be the nature of the “ruling circle” and its relationship to the autocrat). The failure to solve these problems produced a climate of instability and led to a succession of crises in St. Petersburg and Moscow that make it difficult to give unity to the period from 1725 until the accession of Catherine II (the Great) (Catherine II) in 1762.

Normal and peaceful succession to the throne was thwarted by a combination of biological accidents and palace coups. At Peter's death his chief collaborators, who were headed by Prince Aleksandr Danilovich Menshikov (Menshikov, Aleksandr Danilovich) and were assisted by the guard regiments (the offshoots of the play regiments of Peter's youth), put on the throne Peter's widow—his second wife, Catherine I, the daughter of a Lithuanian peasant. Quite naturally, Menshikov ruled in her name. Soon, however, he was forced to share his power with other dignitaries of Peter's reign. A Supreme Privy Council was established as the central governing body, displacing the Senate in political influence and administrative significance. Catherine I's death in 1727 reopened the question of succession; Peter's grandson (the son of Alexis, who had perished in prison) was proclaimed Emperor Peter II by the council. An immature youngster, Peter II fell under the influence of his chamberlain, Prince Ivan Alekseyevich Dolgoruky, whose family obtained a dominant position in the Supreme Privy Council and brought about the disgrace and exile of Menshikov. It looked as if the Dolgorukys (Dolgoruky family) would rule in fact because Peter II was to wed the chamberlain's sister, but Peter's sudden death on Jan. 18 (Jan. 29, New Style), 1730—on the day set for the wedding—crossed the plans of that ambitious family.