A detailed introduction to Peter the Great and St. Petersburg

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9 1. Peter the Great

1672 ~ 1725

Peter the Great is generally regarded as the most outstanding czar in Russia. The westernization policy he formulated was the main factor for Russia to become a powerful country.

Peter was born in Moscow on 1672. He is the only son of Tsar Alexis and his second wife, Vitalina Liskina. Peter's father died before he was four years old. Because Alexis' first wife also gave birth to 13 children for him, he launched a long life-and-death struggle on the issue of heir to the throne. Once he had to run away to save his life. Peter's half-sister, Sophia, served as regent for several years, and was not removed from the throne until 1689. From then on, Peter's position was truly stable.

1689 Russia is a backward country, which lags behind western Europe for hundreds of years in almost every aspect. Serfdom prevails everywhere-in fact, the number of serfs is increasing, while their legal rights are decreasing. Russia missed the great opportunity of the Renaissance and the Reformation. The priest is ignorant; Literature is bleak, and mathematics and natural science are neglected. Compared with western Europe, Russia is almost still in the Middle Ages. In western Europe, Newton's Principles of Natural Philosophy has just come out, and literature and philosophy have flourished.

From 1697 to 1698, Peter made a long trip to western Europe, which set the tone for his later rule. Peter led a "huge delegation" of about 250 people on this trip. Because Peter used an alias (Lou Juttel mikhailov), he saw many things that he couldn't see in other ways. During this trip, he was a captain of the Dutch East India Company for some time, worked in a British shipyard and studied shooting in Prussia. He visited factories, schools, museums, arsenals and even attended a meeting of the British Parliament. In short, he tried his best to learn western culture, science, industry and administrative methods.

Peter returned to Russia on 1698 and carried out a series of large-scale reforms to modernize and westernize the Russian state. In order to encourage the introduction of western technology, he brought many western technicians into Russia and sent many young Russians to study in Eastern Europe. He encouraged the development of industry and commerce during his reign. Under his rule, the scale of towns expanded, the number of bourgeoisie increased and its influence expanded.

During Peter's reign, he founded the first large-scale Russian navy, reorganized the army according to the western form, equipped with military uniforms and modern firearms, and implemented western-style military training methods. Peter also brought many changes in Russian civil affairs, including a wise reform, that is, the promotion of civil servants should be based on performance, not hereditary status.

On social issues, Peter also advocates westernization. He issued a decree that no one should grow a beard (although he later amended it), required court personnel to wear suits, and encouraged smoking and drinking coffee. Although many of his policies were strongly opposed at that time, they had a long-term impact: Russia, a country ruled by the aristocratic class, finally implemented western customs and culture in many aspects.

It is conceivable that Peter thinks that the Russian Orthodox Church is a backward reactionary force. Peter succeeded in partially reorganizing the Orthodox Church and gained control to a great extent. Peter founded a secular school in Russia to encourage the development of science. He also introduced julian calendar and modernized the Russian alphabet. During his reign, Russia founded the first newspaper.

In addition to all these domestic reforms, Peter also carried out foreign policy reforms, which had an important impact on the future. Under his leadership, Russia fought Turkey in the south and Sweden in the north. The first battle with Turkey was successful, and 1696 conquered the port of Azov, thus opening the road to the Black Sea for Russia to some extent. However, in the later period of his rule, Turkey gained the upper hand in the battle. 17 1 1 year was forced to return Azov port to Turkey.

The whole situation of fighting with Sweden is almost the opposite of fighting with Turkey; The Russians lost the first battle, but won the final victory. 1700, Russia formed an alliance with Denmark and Saxony and went to war with Sweden, a military power at that time (Poland later declared war on Sweden). 1700, the Russian army was defeated in the battle of Narwa. After the battle, the king of Sweden turned his attention to other enemies. At the same time, Peter rebuilt the Russian army. Sweden and Russia fought again, and the Swedish army was defeated in poltava in 1907.

The territories annexed by Russia through war generally include important territories near Estonia, Latvia and Finland. Although the conquered territory is not very large, it is very important because it provides Russia with an export from the Balkan Sea, thus providing a "window to Europe". Peter established a new city-St. Petersburg (now called Leningrad) on both sides of neva river, that is, on part of the land obtained by conquering Sweden. 172 1 year, he moved the capital from St. Petersburg to Moscow. Since then, St. Petersburg has become the main exchange place between Russia and Western Europe.

Many of Peter's domestic policies and many foreign wars will of course cost a lot, and it is inevitable to increase taxes by force. High taxes and reforms themselves angered many Russians, and there were several rebellions, but they were ruthlessly suppressed by Peter. Although Peter had many opponents in his heyday, today historians in the west and * * * agree that Peter is the greatest czar in Russia.

Peter looks extraordinary: tall and burly (at least 6 feet 6 inches), full of energy, chic and cheerful. But he often loses his temper, and when he drinks too much, he flies into a rage. In addition to his political and military talents, Peter has also done research in shooting, printing, sailing and shipbuilding. He is an outstanding emperor.

Peter has been married twice. He married Nidokaya at the age of 17, and they only lived together for a week. He sent her to a monastery when he was 26. 17 12 He divorced her and married another woman. His second wife, Catherine, was a Lithuanian woman of humble origin. Peter had a son named Alexis with his original wife, but the relationship between father and son also deteriorated greatly. 17 18 Alexis was arrested and imprisoned, tortured and finally died in prison. Peter himself died in St. Petersburg at the beginning of 1725 at the age of 52. His successor is his widow Catherine (not to be confused with Catherine the Great).

Peter was included in this book because he played an important role in the westernization and modernization of Russia. However, people may be tempted to ask: many rulers in other countries have implemented similar policies. Why put Peter in the book and abandon most other rulers?

Today in the 20th century, most heads of state really understand the importance of taking the western road in their country, especially in science and technology. But at 1700, most people outside Europe don't know the benefits of westernization. Peter's significance lies in that he realized the importance of westernization and modernization of the country two centuries earlier than his time. Because of Peter's foresight, although Russia was still very backward before he ascended the throne, it was able to far surpass most countries in the world. Due to the rapid development of western Europe in18th century and19th century, Russia can't keep up with the pace of western Europe.

Turkey, another important country on the map of Eastern Europe, is in sharp contrast with Russia. Turkey and Russia are both semi-European countries. Two centuries before Peter ascended the throne, Turkey was more advanced than Russia in military, economy and culture. In this respect, Turkey has been more advanced than Russia for most of its history. But around 1700, no Turkish monarch realized the importance of rapid westernization and pushed the country in that direction. So Russia has made rapid progress since Peter's time, while Turkey has only made slow progress. It was not until the 20th century that Kemal Ataturk led Turkey towards the goal of rapid modernization. At that time, Russia's control over Central Asia was quite stable, and Russia was more advanced than Turkey in industry and education.

Today we will undoubtedly take it for granted that Russia is stronger than Turkey. But suppose there was no Peter the Great in Russia at that time, and Turkey had a great monarch who advocated reform. Today, Turkey may be a big country and probably control the East Asia of the Soviet Union (the residents of this area are Christians; Their relationship with Turks is much closer than that with Russians. Although the Russians occupied a large part of Siberia before Peter the Great, they would cede part or all of the occupied Siberia to Turkey, China or Japan if Peter didn't make Russia strong by formulating policies of reform and modernization.

Peter the Great is not just a monarch who goes with the flow, but a man who stands at the forefront of the times. There is every reason to believe that his foresight changed history, changed the direction of history, and developed along a road that could not be followed otherwise. For these reasons, I think Peter should have a place in this book.

When determining Peter's ranking, I compared him with Queen Elizabeth I of England and got some enlightenment from it. Elizabeth's popularity, especially in the west, is much greater than Peter's. But I think it is hard for even the most flattering Russians to believe that Elizabeth is more influential than Peter the Great. Peter is far more innovative and pioneering than Elizabeth. He has led the Russians on a road they never thought of, and Elizabeth mainly represents the unanimous desire of her people. If it weren't for the fact that Britain played a much bigger role in the world than Russia during most of this period, the gap between Peter and Elizabeth would be even greater.

Fort St. Peter, the second largest city in Russia, is the administrative center of Leningrad, Russian Federation. It is located on the east bank of the Gulf of Finland in the Baltic Sea, at the mouth of neva river, and consists of nearly 100 islands and floodplains in the neva river Delta. Including satellite towns and suburbs, it has an area of * * * 1350 square kilometers and a population of 5 million.

St Petersburg has been the capital of the Russian czar for two centuries. 1703, Peter the Great established a brand-new city in the territory occupied by Swedes on the Baltic Sea, and named it St. Petersburg, a name with distinctive Germanic language characteristics, to show Russia's determination to open its doors to the west. Finally, Russia obtained a seaport connecting the west and a window facing the west. 17 12 years, the Russian capital moved from Moscow to St. Petersburg. Since then, St. Petersburg has been the capital of Russia for more than 200 years until1965438+March 2008. After the outbreak of World War I, in 19 14, Russia removed the Germanic color from the name of the capital and renamed it Peter Grad. 1924 1 Lenin died and was renamed Leningrad.1991After the disintegration of the Soviet Union in February, Leningrad resumed its historical name-St. Petersburg.

St Petersburg is the cradle of the Russian revolution. 18251February held an armed uprising in the party demanding the abolition of the tsar and the liberation of serfs, 1905 to 1907 the first Russian revolution, 19 17 February bourgeois democratic revolution,/kloc. During the Great Patriotic War, Leningrad withstood the siege of the German fascist army for nearly 900 days. 1965 was awarded the title of "Hero City" by supreme soviet of the ussr.

St. Petersburg is low-lying, with an altitude of only 1.2-2 meters. It belongs to a mild continental climate influenced by oceanity. It is cold in winter, with the average temperature of -8℃ in June at 5438+ 10, and the snow-covered period of 132 days, and the ice age from mid-June 165438+ 10 to the middle and late April of the following year. The summer is mild, and the average temperature in July is 17.7℃. The annual precipitation is 585 mm. There are many waterways in the city. There are 50 tributaries and many bridges in neva river alone. More than 700 bridges connect these islands and are called "Venice in the North". Among the many bridges in St. Petersburg, 2 1 bridge is open for ships to pass between 2 am and 5 am. Every summer night, many tourists gather by the river to watch the suspension bridge open.

St Petersburg is located at 60 degrees north latitude. In midsummer, the sunshine lasts for nearly 20 hours, and the afterglow of the sunset shines in the sky for a long time. After a short dusk, the morning glow began to appear again, and the red sun that had just fallen rose again in Ran Ran. This is the "white night" spectacle in early summer, June and July every year.

Peter Paul church bell tower

Great St. Petersburg forms a huge horseshoe-shaped town group at the eastern end of the Gulf of Finland (including Kotlin Island): the north shore is residential area, convalescent area and tourist area; The south bank is a cultural and commercial center; Extend eastward back to neva river to Ivanovskoye. The urban area is divided into four parts by the tributary of neva river. The left bank (south bank) of neva river is the "naval area", the Vasilyevski Island area is between the big and small neva river, the Petrograd area is between the small neva river and the big neva river, and the Weibao area is east of the big neva river.

St Petersburg is also an important seaport in Russia. The main port is located in the southwest of the city. Granite dikes will be built on both sides of the river, and protective dikes will be built in the port area. The artificial waterway is connected with the Cranstadt military port on Kotlin Island. The port area mainly imports metal pipelines, industrial equipment, chemicals, sugar, cotton and fruits; Export machinery, timber, coal, potassium salt and pyrite. Passenger transport is mainly concentrated in summer (via the Baltic Sea to Britain). Small seagoing vessels can reach Lake Ladoga along neva river, where they connect with interior drainage in Russia and Europe, passing through Lake Ladoga, Taikoo River, Onega Lake and White Sea Canal. Ships can enter the White Sea and connect with the North Sea route along the Russian Arctic Ocean. They can reach the Volga River basin, Caspian Sea, Black Sea and Azov Sea through Onega Lake and Volga-Baltic waterway.

The urban traffic is developed, and there are 10 railway trunk lines leading radially to Helsinki, Warsaw, Moscow and other Russian cities.

St Petersburg is a famous cultural city. There are more than 40 institutions of higher learning and more than 400 scientific research institutions. Among them, the famous ones are the National St. Petersburg University, the National St. Petersburg Technical University, the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute and the Frozen Soil Research Institute, which were established in 1724. There are more than 50 museums in this city, which is called Museum City. The famous Russian Museum was founded in 1895. Russian ancient buildings in the city are well known and belong to1early 8th century. The main buildings are: Peter Paul Fort and Peter Paul Cathedral (the burial place of Peter the Great), Peter the Great Summer Garden on Admiralty Island and the Summer Palace in the garden. These buildings have the characteristics of early Russian baroque architecture: simplicity, grandeur and stability. /kloc-The buildings in the late 8th century include Smolny College, Winter Palace, Tavlich Palace and Ani Chikov Palace (renamed Children's Palace after the October Revolution). /kloc-The main buildings in the early 9th century include: the magnificent Kazan Cathedral, the Isak Kiev Cathedral with a height of 10 1 m, etc. Many famous Russian poets and writers, such as Pushkin, lermontov and Gorky, have lived and created here.

St Petersburg is the political, economic and cultural center of Russia after Moscow, and also the central city of northwest Russia, also known as the "capital of the north". There are more than 4,000 industrial enterprises, whose output value accounts for 6% of Russia's total industrial output value, and industrial products sell well all over the country. Industry is dominated by shipbuilding, power machinery and other manufacturing industries. Shipbuilding ranks first in the Commonwealth of Independent States, and can produce large-scale atomic icebreakers, as well as various vehicles, motors and weapons. Followed by chemical industry, producing calcium superphosphate (made of kola peninsula apatite), ships and other synthetic rubber products, plastics and their products, and synthetic fibers. Textile, food and consumer goods industries are also well developed, including cotton and linen textiles, clothing and footwear. Industrial electricity comes from peat power stations and hydropower stations near the Volkhoff River, the Swire River and the Woksa River.

St Petersburg became a sister city with China on 1988.