Russia’s Last Tsar Story – From Throne to Twilight

The text below is the excerpt of the book The Last Tsar (ISBN: 9781644617953), written by Larissa Yermilova, published by Parkstone International.

Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich set up linen and silk-weaving factories, encouraged trade, rebuilt churches and monasteries and, enlarged and adorned Moscow.

The reign of the “meek tsar” lasted for 30 years and 5 months. He died on January 29, 1676, and was interred at the Archangel Cathedral in Moscow. He had two sons from his first marriage, to Maria Miloslavsky, – Fyodor and Ivan, and one from the second, to Natalia Naryshkin. The name of this third son was Peter.

On his deathbed the tsar appointed his elder son Fyodor to the Russian throne. The young tsar was weak in health and died six years later, in 1682. During his reign, the country was ruled by two rival families, relatives of his mother, the Miloslavskys, and relatives of his step-mother, the Naryshkins. The Miloslavskys soon managed to shoulder the Naryshkins aside, and the widow of the late tsar, Natalia Naryshkin, was forced to leave the Kremlin and move with her young son Peter to the village of Preobrazhenskoye, on the outskirts of Moscow.

Tsar Alexei’s fourth daughter Sophia, a woman endowed with a shrewd mind, strong character and overpowering ambition, headed the Miloslavsky clan. All of Tsar Alexei’s daughters had received a western style education under the tutelage of the monk-scholar and writer Simeon Polotsky. Sophia, his most gifted pupil, decided to usurp her father’s throne. Tsar Fyodor died on April 27, 1682. This marked the beginning of Sophia’s dramatic struggle for the throne. The next in the order of succession was Ivan, but he was a very sick young man. The Zemsky Sobor, convened to decide of the issue and, ruled in favor of the ten year old Peter. Sophia then instigated the streltsy, the troops of the reformed army whose devotion she had worked hard to win, to revolt against the Naryshkins. Before the eyes of young Peter, the boyar Matveyev and Peter’s uncles Pyotr and Afanasy Naryshkin were speared to death by the mutinous streltsy. The terrified Boyar Duma complied with their demands. Ivan and Peter were jointly proclaimed tsars and, during their minority, Sophia was to act as regent. Eventually the streltsy, led by their general Prince Khovansky, openly declared their support for the Old Faith. This prompted Sophia to change her attitude towards them and she succeeded in ensuring their non inter ference in the affairs of state. During her rule she relied a great deal on her devoted favorite, Prince Vassily Golitsyn. An educated man, who spoke both Latin and Polish, he planned to form a regular Russian army and to free the landed serfs. He led two abortive campaigns against the Crimean Tatars.

With time, Peter, having become of majority and having married Yevdokiya Lopukhina, began thinking of taking power into his own hands. Sophia in turn conspired with the streltsy to get rid of him. Fearing for his life, Peter fled from Preobra zhenskoye to the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, where he gathered a troop of devoted followers.

The foreign regiment commanded by General Gordon also sided with him. Having come to an agreement with his brother Ivan on joint rule without Sophia, Peter gave orders to have Sophia incarcerated in the Novodevichy Nunnery.

The personality of Peter the First amazed both his contemporaries as well as later generations. He appeared to the nation as a workingman, who would undoubtfully exchange his crown and mantle for a caprenter’s axe. He was a man of great energy and outstanding administrative ability, and was prepared to listen to criticism and to follow wise advice.

The activities of Tsar Peter had great consequences on the fate of Russia. The most painful setback Muscovy had suffered in the 17th century, in Tsar Peter’s opinion, was the loss of the Baltic seaboard, which gave it an outlet to the west. Peter’s victory over the Swedes in the Great Northern War of 1700 – 1721, the restitution of the Baltic lands, which had been seized by Sweden, and the establishment of a new capital, St Petersburg, on the Gulf of Finland, made the European nations aware of Russia’s new strength and unity and raised her prestige among these nations.

The impressive military victories and the expansion of the Russian borders brought about “the unification of formerly divided eastern and western halves of Europe in common activities by involving in these activities the Slav tribe, which only now began to participate in Europe’s life through its representative, the Russian people”, according to the historian Sergei Solovyov. Peter I worked resolutely to raise his country to the European level. With an iron hand he carried out urgent reforms that changed the very tenor of life in the country. He formed a regular army, built a navy and set up an administrative system of education.

Sergei Solovyov assessed the results of Peter’s reforms in the following terms: “In the internal life of the country, foundations were laid for a new political and civic order. Society was aroused to political activities by the introduction of collegiate administration, the elective principle and local self-government. The oath of allegiance was now sworn not only to the tsar but also to the State, which introduced the common people to the concept of the State’s importance. In private law, measures were taken to protect the individual; Russia was freed from the fetters of the family by Peter’s stress on personal achievement; a polltax was introduced; marriage by coercion on the part of parents or landlords was prohibited; and the woman was liberated from the prison of her home”.

(To be continue)

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