Original subtitles

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quite honest trade customer that never

seen so many nobles they were n boys

from the National Assembly in Moscow

come to beg the great nun Martha to

allow her son to take his rightful place

as the next Czar of Russia

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Michael Romano is the only one who

hadn't stained his cocaine during the

Time of Troubles he was their only hope

if he refused

Aniki would return Russia they said

could not endure such grief again

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in 1598 is our Fyodor son of Ivan the

Terrible died childless he was the last

of the Rurik dynasty rulers of Russia

for more than 700 years

his younger brother Dmitri had died

seven years earlier in suspicious

circumstances the National Assembly

elected Boris Godunov as the next saw

wood arrival soon emerged an imposter

claiming to be the last czars dead

younger brother this so-called false

dmitri seized the throne and married the

polish noblewoman Larina mashek within a

year the false Dmitri was slain in a

palace coup and marina fled Moscow in

exile she recognized a second false

dmitri as her husband and bore him a son

even

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Russia was leaderless and Sweden and

Poland took advantage of her weakness

attacking on two fronts Russia lost

Corellia Novgorod and Smolensk amid the

anarchy and devastation only 10% of

Russian lands were still being farmed

famine and fear stormed the land without

a strong legitimate ruler it seemed the

Russian state would soon cease to exist

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towards the end of the brutal winter of

1613 delegates of the country's National

Assembly traveled to Moscow where they

would decide the fate of the motherland

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the Zemke sabor or National Assembly was

Russia's Parliament of the 16th and 17th

centuries brought together to advise on

the most important political issues in

1613 the Assembly had about 1,000

delegates drawn from the nobility clergy

merchants and free townsman the decisive

vote was held on March 3rd after lengthy

debate the sixteen-year-old Michael

Romanov was elected Tsar Michael's

father was Fyodor Nikita - Romanov

cousin of Tsar Feodor the son of Ivan

the Terrible this gave him a strong

claim to the throne when Boris

Goodenough took the throne he saw

Michael's father as a potential threat

and forced him to become a monk under

the name of Phil aret Michael's mother

zenya became a nun taking the name

Martha Villa retros to the rank of

Bishop was imprisoned by the poles while

on a diplomatic mission his polish

captors didn't bother to inform him that

his son had been made Tsar of Russia

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the people of Moscow meanwhile were

informed at the National Assembly's

decision through public announcements in

Red Square michael feodorovich Romanov

it was declared was the new sovereign of

the Grand Duchy of Muscovy and Czar of

all the Russia's

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Michael had grown up amid the 15 year

anarchy known as the Time of Troubles

when he was just four he was taken from

his parents and sent to the country

later his mother came to take Michael

back and together they went to live a

quiet life in the apat EF monastery 200

miles northeast of Moscow

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hoarse and exhausted ambassadors bearing

the holy icon of Our Lady of sin Fyodor

spent hours persuading the Romanoff's to

accept power

finally he consented

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after many years of lawlessness and

violence a new Tsar ascended to the

Russian throne michael feodorovich

Romanov founder of the Romanov dynasty

by God's will

Tsar and ruler of all Russia

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the coronation of czar Michael the first

was held on July 22nd 1613

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chapter one Michael the first

feodorovich there was no going back for

Michael Romanov he ascended the steps of

the Cathedral of the Assumption the son

of a noble and descended them as czar

the state he was to rule was on the

verge of collapse

so the Youngs are followed his intuition

and ruled not as an autocrat but in

consultation with his advisors on his

initiative the National Assembly which

had formally met once every few years

began to meet more regularly to offer

him advice

despite the expectations of many Michael

didn't become a puppet of the noble

factions at court

he remained his own man biding his time

when one Dutch visitor suggested that

Michael should take firm measures

against his enemies he answered don't

you know that our Russian bears never

hunt in the first year of life they only

hunt when they are older Michael faced

three rival claimants to the throne to

the north a Swedish King Carl Philip to

the west the Polish Prince Vlad Aswath

and in the south a three year old even

son of marina Manisha and the second

false dmitri the boys claim was upheld

by three thousand cossacks led by the

adventurer even Zaretsky but their

followers soon deserted their cause and

he and the boy were handed over to the

tsar soldiers and brought to Moscow to

meet their fate the executions took

place in front of a huge crowd by the

city's Surikov gate the Dutch traveller

Elias hitman remembered it for the rest

of his life

zorroski was impaled on a stake then

Dimitri's son was brought out the

snowstorm was blowing wet snow slapping

the boy on the face he kept asking where

are you taking me

those carrying the child kept him calm

and brought him like a lamb to the

slaughter to the gallows poor boy was

hanged as a thief the Tsar's enemies

could have used the boy to foment Civil

War

costing Russia back into the Time of

Troubles Michael would take any measure

no matter how brutal to prevent that

anarchy had been avoided but war seemed

inescapable Swedish troops were

besieging the scoff three hundred and

sixty miles west of Moscow Michael

ordered his diplomats to negotiate peace

at any price in 1617 the Treaty of stub

off was signed and the city of Novgorod

and surrounding lands were returned to

Russia the next threat was a Polish army

advancing on Moscow led by Prince Vlad

Aswath in person the poles reached the

walls of the Kremlin itself the Citadel

at the heart of the city

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Russian spies learned that the poles

were digging a mine under the power back

gate but the Tsar ignored the pleas of

his advisers and refused to abandon the

city

weighing on his mind was not just the

fate of the city but a personal dilemma

polls still held his father prisoner

ichael knew if he left Moscow he would

lose the throne if he lost the throne he

would never see his father again on

December 1st 1618 Poland and Russia

signed the troops of Delina region from

the asthma teacher knock-off was

returned but many issues remained

unresolved Smolensk remained under

Polish control and Prince Vlad Aswath

refused to renounce his claim to the

Russian throne

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but Russia was exhausted by war it

desperately needed peace a breathing

space and time to rebuild however the

treaty was a personal triumph for

Michael under its terms all prisoners

taken during the Time of Troubles were

to be returned amongst them

his father it was nine years since their

separation

Michael had always looked up to his

father and tried to emulate him now he

was finally to be reunited with this

legendary figure the Metropolitan Bishop

Villa ret

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the father could see that his son had

become a real Tsar of Russia God's

chosen ruler ten days later the Tsar

made his father patriarch of Moscow the

head of the Russian Orthodox Church from

henceforth they would rule together as

father and son the influence of the

Tsar's mother the once all-powerful

great nun Martha began to wane she no

longer had any say in affairs of state

and had less and less access to her son

the Tsar was now in his twenties four

grown man

accordingly it was announced that by

God's will the great rulers are Michael

had reached the age of adulthood and the

time had come for him to take a wife

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the Czar's mother had found a bride for

her son but Michael made his own

decision years ago during his exile he

had fallen in love with masha clop of

her the daughter of one of his Guardians

and promised to marry only her

the Tsar's decision was announced that

his bride-to-be was found rooms within

the palace the seljuq Hoff brothers

relatives of the Tsar's mother were put

in charge of her safety but just before

the wedding Masha

suddenly fell dangerously ill the palace

was alive with rumor and suspicions the

soldier coughs summoned the best foreign

doctors who announced that a terrible

disease was devouring the royal bride

from within and no cure was possible

[Music]

people were soon whispering that the

Tsar's mother was behind it because she

was opposed to the marriage

[Music]

in any event masher eventually recovered

only to be exiled to Siberia for

apparently concealing an illness from

the Tsar's advices an investigation

later concluded she'd been poisoned by

the salty coughs who were dismissed from

court but the whole affair put Michael

off any thought of marriage for many

years when czar Michael turned 28 his

relatives began to worry without an heir

the future of the dynasty was in doubt

once more his mother had a candidate

this time reluctantly Michael agreed to

the match and was married to princess

maria dal kuru cava

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but four months later Maria fell sick

and died the cause never fully

established after this latest disaster

Michael dismissed his mother from any

involvement in his marital affairs and

instead arranged for the traditional

election of a Russian royal bride the

advice he received was to watch the

girls carefully from afar appraising

their aged complexion eyes and hair look

for signs of injury or illness and

ensure she's healthy in mind and kind by

nature the tradition of electing a

Tsar's bride was essentially a beauty

contest involving thousands of

candidates from noble families first

royal officials sorted applicants on the

basis of their height the size of head

and size of feet then senior nobles and

court doctors inspected the girls in the

capital finally 10 to 20 of the most

beautiful girls were brought to the

court where they were introduced to the

Tsar in person when Michael announced

his decision his advisors were

speechless he chose F dakea stretch neva

as his queen she hadn't even been in the

contest she was the maid of one of the

candidates and the daughter of a poor

nobleman

from bitter experience Azhar decided to

handle all the arrangements himself the

identity of his bride was kept a closely

guarded secret and she was brought to

the palace just three days before the

wedding

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sir it'sa EV dakea the Russian

Cinderella proved to be kind considerate

and loving she bore Michael ten children

who only four survived infancy three

daughters and the son Alexei it was

enough to ensure the dynasty would live

on

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Michael and the land were at peace for a

short while

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Michael was determined to reclaim

Russian lands lost during the Time of

Troubles

it would mean war with Poland

first he reorganized the army

introducing new weapons and equipment

based on developments in Europe in

particular Michael learned from the

Swedish army the strongest in Europe new

regiments were formed with eight

companies of 200 men each had 120

musketeers and 80 pikemen new muskets

were bought which weighed four kilograms

instead of six so they could be fired

without her support

by 1632 10 new regiments had been formed

with a strength of 17,000

[Music]

it was one thing to create a new army it

was another to teach it how to win on

the battlefield Russian forces were

defeated outside Smolensk and after two

years of war both sides sought a

settlement the 1634 Treaty of Hualien of

kur brought no territorial gains for

Russia apart from the town of sip yes

ceded by the Polish Lithuanian

Commonwealth Russia also paid an

indemnity of 20,000 rubles in exchange

for which King wladis worth of Poland

renounced his claim to the Russian

throne Russia itself was gradually

becoming a more prosperous society

thanks to Michael's efforts English and

Dutch specialists came to Russia to

share their expertise they lived in the

foreign districts of the big cities such

as Moscow's famous German quarter and

invested capital in local enterprises

Russians refer to the Germans or often

any foreigner as Nimitz

from the Russian word nimoy meaning mute

because they couldn't speak Russian

in the tenth year of his reign Czar

Michael invited English geologists to

investigate iron and copper ore deposits

in the Ural Mountains eight years later

the first state steelmaking plant was

opened in the region

[Music]

twelve years after that a Dutch

entrepreneur built an armory at Tula 100

miles south of Moscow could still in

operation today Russia soon began to

export arms to some of the most

developed countries in Europe

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the average wage at this time was 3

kopeks a day for which one could buy

three chickens or 45 eggs or one and a

half kilos of salmon a sheepskin coat

cost 50 kopecks for about 2 weeks wages

a pair of boots was 10 days wages while

a cow cost 2 rubles for about 2 months

wages abroad Russian state was gaining

greater influence in 1625 Shah Abbas the

ruler of Persia sought to win favor by

sending the patriarch of Russia a holy

robe this sacred relic was believed to

be the one worn by Christ before his

crucifixion later taken by one of the

Roman soldiers present patriarch filler

at the Tsar's father ordained a week's

fasting to mark its arrival before

presenting the holy robe to the sick 67

people were said to have been

miraculously cured in the first six

months alone

[Music]

robe itself was later placed in a

Cathedral within the Kremlin today a

part of the robe can be seen in the

Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in

Moscow after the barbarism of the Time

of Troubles the Romanov sought to

nurture a cultural revival within Russia

one of patriarch filler its first

degrees was to restore the czars once

vast library now largely destroyed

scholars were sent to search for books

in distant monasteries and to make

copies of rare manuscripts and returned

with them to Moscow

[Music]

just thirty years after the Time of

Troubles Russia was back to the level of

prosperity she'd enjoyed before the

state had slid into Anarchy trade and

productivity were on the rise people had

enough to eat and felt safe it was an

age of economic and political stability

Tsar Michael had achieved the impossible

and brought the Russian state back from

the brink

on July 12th 1645 Bazaar celebrated his

49th birthday that morning after church

Michael seemed to have a presentiment of

his own approaching death he publicly

forgave all those who had ever insulted

or sinned against him and ordered a

general amnesty for all prisoners on

coming home

the first Romanoff's are of russia said

goodbye to his wife and son and died

peacefully later that day

[Music]

Russia mourned its much-loved ruler for

three days many thousands from all ranks

and walks of life came to pay their

respects before his coffin services were

held in his honor in all the churches of

the land alexei mikhaylovitch

michael's eldest son and heir was as

young as his father had been when he

ascended to the throne but the country

he inherited had been utterly

transformed famine civil war and

destruction no longer stalked the land

Russia was now stable and prosperous

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new ruler of this reinvigorated state

tsar alexei was handsome intelligent

virile and devout ahead they great

victories and bloody revolts remarkable

achievements and fatal mistakes alexei

mikhaylovitch was destined to become one

of Russia's most controversial rulers

[Music]

[Applause]

chapter 2 Alexi the first Mikhaylovich

the young czar was not overawed by his

new responsibilities it was a role he

prepared for since early childhood his

education had begun at the age of six

after learning the alphabet he was

taught to read using stories from the

Bible the Prince's household included 20

stewards six teachers and 18 musicians

as well as bodyguards acrobats and

jesters when Alexei was seven he was

given a set of miniature weapons an arc

of us a bow and arrows swords armor made

in Germany and musical instruments maps

and engravings from Western Europe

alexis chief Tudor was a nobleman named

Boris Morozov he encouraged his pupil to

broaden his outlook and introduced him

to Western culture many Europeans were

invited to the Tsar's court including

interpreters diplomats and scholars

Alexie's personal doctor an Englishman

named Samuel Collins admired his patient

greatly the Emperor is handsome and

strongly built

he has fair hair and doesn't shave his

beard he is tall with noble bearing he

can be cruel when angry but he is mostly

kind and gentle he has an excellent

memory and is devout one could name him

among the most kind and wise rulers but

for the cloud of advisors and Noble men

who surround him and turn his good

intentions to evil during the first

years of his reign Alexei pursued many

passions much of his time was spent

visiting remote monasteries to perform

acts of worship he also collected rare

and exotic birds

captain elk farm had experimented with

new agricultural techniques he tried to

grow melons almonds cotton and grapes

but without doubt his greatest love was

hunting with his Falcons

the Czar owned no fewer than 3000

Vulcanus each of which it was said he

knew by name his household included 100

Falconer Zaveri drank paid between 6 and

60 rubles a year not including bonuses

all were members of the Department of

secret Affairs which handled the czars

amusements and private business the head

falconer avinasi Matus King was a

Lexie's close friend the upkeep of the

muse and hunting stables cost the

Treasury 75 thousand rubles a year

equivalent about 10 million dollars

today on the road the Tsar's hunting

party was more than half a mile long

first came 300 stewards mounted on

richly decorated horses three abreast

they were followed by 300 Guardsmen in

crimson caftans five abreast in five

hundred armored cavalry three abreast

next came forty parade horses in

ornately decorated harnesses followed by

the reserved carriage horses and finally

bazaar himself in his English carriage

accompanied by courtiers and hangers on

no more than a few dozen

young Alexei was enjoying himself in a

manner worthy of us are he left affairs

of state to his tutor Boris Morozov

but the nobles jealous of Morozov

influence Birds the Czar to marry since

a married man had no need of a tutor but

Morozov was not to be so easily at

manoeuvered when the Tsar expressed his

desire to marry the greatest beauties

were brought to him from across Russia

he picked his favorite but when she was

brought to him a second time in court

clothes

Morozov instructed the servant to tie

her headscarf so tightly that the girl

quickly fainted it was declared that the

girl had fainting sickness to conceal

this from the Tsar was a crime

her father was exiled to Siberia and her

family fell from favour

[Music]

marah's off an elderly widower then

asked the Tsar to help him pick his own

bride and introduced him to the mere /ca

sisters Alexei fell in love with the

eldest sister Maria and married her

while Marisol married Anna young enough

to be his granddaughter

so strengthening further his ties to

Alexei

[Music]

Alexia's family life proved a source of

great joy to him Maria was five years

his senior which he proved a perfect

match and ideals the Ritzer they lived

together for 20 years and had 13

children as ours gentle manners earned

him the nickname the most quiet but his

reign itself would prove anything but

the clouds of war and revolt were

gathering On June 1st 1648 Alexei and

his court were returning to Moscow from

the Trinity sand Sergius monastery when

the procession reached the city gates

they found the way blocked by a huge

crowd the people of the city had come to

present a petition to the tsar

complaining of the excesses of his

bureaucrats but the Tsar refused to

speak to them his guards drove them away

and arrested the ringleaders

the next day the Czar was returning from

another monastery when he was again met

by a huge crowd they pushed his guards

aside broke through to the Czar's coach

and seize control of the horses the 19

year old alexei was face to face with

his subjects for the first time despite

being surrounded by an angry mob he

remained calm he listened to their

complaints and promised to stamp out

government corruption and to dismiss all

bribe takers and embezzlers from office

top of their list with the Tsar's old

tutor Boris mazzaroth

[Music]

in the course of two years

Morozov had amassed a huge personal

fortune and made himself the second

richest person in Russia as chief

treasurer of the state he reduced

spending by slashing the wages of all

bureaucrats forcing many to accept

bribes simply to survive he appointed

friends and allies to offices of state

but only after they paid him an enormous

bribe but Mehra's offs most dangerous

policy had been to raise the tax on salt

salt was the universal food preservative

when its price rose fourfold everyone

was affected and the poorest were

threatened with starvation the events

that followed were reported in all the

courts of Europe one account was left by

a Dutch traveler to Russia thought to be

a spy

a crowd of people forced their way into

the palace court-yard the guard sided

with the people and burst into Mara

sophs house they trampled everything

underfoot through his belongings from

the windows and ransacked the place

taking all they could they shouted

furiously this is our blood marah's off

himself escaped into one of his

Majesty's chambers and hid there

there were revolts across Russia boost

yog and self you got skin the

north to Kursk in the south Tsar was

under siege in his own palace

pregnant Tsar Ritzer nearly miscarried

she gave birth five months later but

their first child died within the year

[Music]

to appease the people Tsar ordered the

execution of many corrupt officials but

not Maris off Alexei would not sacrifice

his beloved tutor and instead exiled him

to a monastery 300 miles north of Moscow

in response to the salt riots the

National Assembly was urgently convened

within the Kremlin it advised the Tsar

that only a comprehensive new legal code

could restore order a special commission

was established in which the Tsar

himself took an active role the result

was a sabor Nicola genja a legal code

that sought to consolidate all the

state's existing laws into a single

document for the first time it would

prove a cornerstone of Russian law for

centuries to come

codes 25 chapters and nearly thousand

articles were copied and glued together

into a single role 309 metres long after

its approval 1,200 copies were printed

and one sent to every major city the

code entrenched the privileges of the

nobility who became the only people

legally allowed to own serfs the status

of these peasants was made permanent and

hereditary the suborn Yahoo lasagna was

enforced for almost 200 years from 1649

until 1832

[Music]

when the rioting finally abated Boris

Morozov quietly returned from exile but

his place as a Lexi's closest advisor

had been taken by another the 43 year

old Abbot of Nova Spassky monastery

nikan nikan made a great impression on

the devout Tsar soon he was ordained

metropolitan Bishop of nagaraj three

years later

alexei appointed him patriarch head of

the entire Russian Orthodox Church with

the Tsar's backing the new patriarch

began a large-scale reform of the

Russian Church he can't believe that

over the last four centuries the rituals

and beliefs of his native church had

become riddled with corruption and abuse

and were increasingly at odds with the

rites performed by the Greek Orthodox

Church the morality and conduct of

Russian priests and monks had also been

called into question

[Music]

the cones reforms were intended to bring

the Russian church back into line with

its own early practices and those of the

Greek Orthodox Church Russians were now

to cross themselves using three fingers

and not two they were told how many

times to bow during services what

musical instruments could be played in

church and how to correctly spell the

name Jesus Christ for a deeply

conservative church such reforms were no

small matter they led to sharp divisions

within the church so-called old

believers denounced them as heresy and

continued to practice the old forms of

worship in secret but ultimately it was

their leader arch priest a bakhoum who

would be burnt as a heretic nakhon

support grew steadily until by the end

of Alexie's reign his course had become

impossible to resist

diehard opponents remained but many more

embrace the practical benefits of his

reforms such as restoring discipline

among the clergy and promoting education

[Music]

Czar Alexi had supported Nikon's reforms

but the patriarchy began to overreach

himself becoming involved in every

aspect of government from politics to

diplomacy and the conduct of military

campaigns meanwhile the patriarchs

enemies at court spread rumors to

undermine him relations between the head

of the church and the head of state

reached a new low when tsar alexei

failed to attend the patriarch service

at the Cathedral of the Assumption it

could mean only one thing

patriarch Nikon had fallen from favor

and could no longer count on the Tsar's

support

[Music]

yiquan left for the new jerusalem

monastery a day's journey from Moscow

where he planned to await the Tsar's

apology

but it never came instead czar appointed

a new patriarch

in 1666 a great synod was held in Moscow

attended by the most senior priests of

the Greek and Russian Orthodox Church

the synod dismissed patriarch Nikon from

his post but at the same time

excommunicated his great adversary arch

priest avec une and upheld nikon's

entire program of church reform

marah's off and now nikon work on tsar

alexei this passion of youth lover of

falconry loving husband and father would

now rule alone for the first time little

did he know he was about to face one of

the most turbulent periods in all of

Russian history the first threat would

come from the south and the Cossack

renegade Stefan rosin rosin was a

Cossack chief or at a man from the dawn

region he had a long record of

insurrection and banditry along the

Volga River and around the Caspian Sea

but in 1670 he aimed at nothing less

than the creation of a new free state

for the cossacks after he seized the

towns of Zarate's in and choked asked

thousands rallied to his cause

government troops were eventually able

to stamp out the rebellion and razzin

was betrayed to the authorities by his

Cossack rivals he was brought to Moscow

and executed even while he struggled

with church reform and Cossack rebellion

tsar alexei faced war against the old

enemy poland since the time of troubles

commonwealth of poland and lithuania had

occupied former russian lands including

the important city of Smolensk

[Music]

while the Tsar was away with the army

the dreaded news arrived that plague had

broken out in Moscow the Czar's family

and court were hurriedly evacuated to

the monastery of Trinity Lavra of sin

Sergius and the capital was quarantined

by the 1670s Moscow was one of the

largest cities in Europe before the

epidemic its population was around 300

thousand which made it about the same

size as Paris Naples had a population of

270,000

London and Amsterdam about 200,000

Venice and Antwerp about a hundred and

fifty thousand Rome Genoa and Prague

100,000 in five months the plague

claimed 150,000 lives about half the

population of Moscow bodies piled up in

the streets but the army still had to be

paid and the Treasury was in

plague-ravaged Moscow

if the epidemic spread to the troops it

would be a disaster so the Tsar came up

with the idea of literally laundering

the money he ordered the silver coins to

be washed with soap and lye for they

were distributed to the troops plague

never reached the army

the war with Poland lasted 13 years

Russians managed to win back some

territory on their western border but an

empty treasury forced the Czar to seek

an armistice in the truce of Andrews off

Russia won back Smolensk genic off and

other lands lost more than 50 years ago

in the Time of Troubles eastern Ukraine

also became part of the Russian state to

refill his Treasury tsar alexei decided

to reform the currency because of the

country's shortage of gold and silver he

introduced a copper coin but the same

value as a silver coin wages were now

paid out in copper while taxes were

still gathered in silver the copper

coins soon began to lose much of their

value but the Tsar's mints continued to

produce them within five years in Moscow

a single silver ruble was worth 12 or

even 15 copper rubles

at the end of July 1662 when the Czar

was at his palace at calamansi a few

miles outside Moscow posters appeared in

the city calling those responsible for

minting copper coins thieves and

traitors people of Moscow traveled to

calamansi Oya to see the Tsar when he

left church he was surrounded by a huge

angry crowd but Alexei kept his

composure he promised the people that

the issue would be resolved he even

swore an oath to it the crowd began to

disperse bazaars guards led him away but

more protesters kept arriving from

Moscow angrier and shouting insults at

the Tsar for a while alexei listened to

their jeers in silence troops were

already moving into position when the

Tsar saw that they encircled the crowd

gave the order the slaughter began

[Applause]

2,500 people were killed at calamansi

Oya in just a few hours the revolt was

suppressed but the copper coinage had to

be withdrawn the state even offered

compensation at five kopecks or 5% to

the ruble czars agents interrogated and

tortured suspects for months to find out

who had been behind the riots 150 were

hanged about 1000 were sent into exile

with the letter be branded on their

faces a boon Tov sheikh rebel czar

Ritzer was pregnant during the copper

riot as she'd been 14 years before

during the salt riot it was said the

shock took its toll on her later when

the Surratt's are died in childbirth the

baby girl died just five days later

[Music]

after the revolt tsar alexei became

deeply suspicious he created a special

section of the department of secret

affairs that combined the functions of

counterintelligence secret police of

censorship and the prison it oversaw the

work of all other state departments and

was based not with them in the kremlin

and at its own headquarters a few

streets away at Lubyanka torture was

used routinely during its interrogations

it also relied on a large network of

paid informers including state

bureaucrats shopkeepers and innkeepers

[Music]

the Tsar had his own office within the

department from where he increasingly

handled all affairs of state the

department of secret Affairs also

continued to run the Tsar's household

and entertainments and produce the day

reports first weather reports in Russian

history by the end of his reign Alexei

had surrounded himself with flatterers

and yes-men

who competed with each other to sing the

praises of their glorious monarch his

public appearances became increasingly

formal and magnificent with new

ceremonies devised in detail by the xyp

[Music]

Czar recently widowed seemed set on the

path towards aging despotism and

ever-increasing isolation but an

encounter one evening as he dined at the

house of his friend Artem on matveyev

turned everything on its head as per

custom czars first cup was presented by

the hosts young ward the 19 year old

Natalia nourish kana czar was instantly

captivated by her beauty and became

determined to make her his wife

but proper protocol had to be observed

the selection of a new royal bride was

announced and 74 women of great beauty

were brought to Moscow for the Tsar's

appraisal only one of them knew the

result had already been decided

[Music]

Natalia Naru Chicana had won the SARS

heart the selection was a mere formality

[Music]

wedding took place in the Kremlin in the

Cathedral of the Assumption on February

1st 1671 a year and a half later the

Newser Ritzer gave birth to a son the

boy would be known to history as Peter

the Great

in his newfound joy tsar alexei decided

to realize a long cherished dream to

build russia's first professional

theater the theater was built in the

village of preobrazhenskaya on the

outskirts of Moscow aster you and

Gregory from the city's German quarter

was invited to write its first play

entitled the comedy of artaxerxes based

on the story of Esther from the Bible

all parts were played by students from

the Lutheran School the first

performance took place on October 30th

1670 to play lasted an exhausting 10

hours tsar Ritzer and princesses watched

from behind a screen that hid them from

sight

soon five more plays had been staged all

based on stories from the Bible as well

as the first ballet Orpheus tsar alexei

was filled with a new zest for life and

a horror of growing old he started to

study medical textbooks and to use herbs

to mix his own potions he would listen

attentively to his doctors and became

obsessed with bloodletting which was

believed to restore the balance of the

body's humors necessary for good health

he strongly recommended the practice for

all his courtiers it was said he

sometimes let his favourite falcon make

the incision as the bird

in January 1676 Alexi caught a cold

which he decided to treat himself but

his health deteriorated rapidly and

within a week his condition was without

hope

On January 29th Bazar received the last

rites and blessed his eldest son

Theodore

as his heir and the next Czar of Russia

[Music]

he died the following night aged 46

[Music]

alexei romanov weathered many storms

leave behind a state that was rich

strong and stable his successors would

build upon his legacy carrying on the

work of reform and modernization none

more so than his youngest son Peter the

Great whose achievements would eclipse

those of his father Alexei died in the

prime of his life with many great

ambitions unfulfilled the country felt

bereaved as though it had lost a father

heir to this mighty Russian state feodor

alexeyevitch wasn't even able to attend

his father's funeral unaided his ill

health meant he had to be carried to the

cathedral on a special litter looking at

the sickly face beneath the Czar's fur

hat some whispered a warning prepare

yourselves

soon the nobles will be back in charge

and another Time of Troubles will be

upon us

[Music]

year was 1674 in the private theater of

tsar alexei taylor of the byzantine

princess bulk area was being retold long

ago she had been the elder sister of a

byzantine emperor seven-year-old boy

given to daydreaming

[Music]

so she ruled in place of her little

brother and proved to be wise and fair

[Music]

the tale delighted its royal audience

but one teenage Princess Sofia was

spellbound this was her own dream

brought to life on stage she had no idea

where and how far that dream would lead

her

[Music]

few years later when Zara Lexi's eldest

surviving son took the throne as feared

or the third house of Romanov seemed

secure and stable the succession was not

in dispute Lexy himself had named and

blessed the door as his successor from

his deathbed there was one thing though

that worried the people the young Tsar

had had to be carried to his coronation

in a litter he could barely walk on his

own

as feared or ascended the throne many

had called openly hinted that the young

czar was not long for this world

chapter 1 Theodore the third

Alekseyevich heard or had suffered from

chronic scurvy since childhood it led to

anemia the blood disorder that left him

profoundly weak it also caused his limbs

to swell and led to the abnormal

development of his bones and cartilage

scurvy is caused by an acute deficiency

of vitamin C in the 17th century it was

common during Wars or long sea voyages

first Romanoff's however seemed to have

had a rare hereditary form of the

disease because of his ill health

Theodore was forced to spend much of his

time indoors unable to take part in

games or sport instead he developed an

interest in the sciences his tutor was a

philosopher and poet Simeon polotsk II

and Fyodor was extremely well educated

for his time

young czar excelled in theology

philosophy rhetoric and poetry he spoke

fluent polish and read avi and in the

original Latin Theodore owned a large

music library sang well and was a

talented composer but his greatest

passion was for horse breeding when

Theodore was only three he was not given

a toy horse like most other

three-year-olds but a real horse because

he was the son of a Tsar

little boy was in or for the rest of his

life he would be obsessed with

everything to do with horses he adores

parents hoped that riding would improve

the princes health but instead their

worst nightmare came true one of his

father's friends we are noble art Amnon

Madhvi F witnessed the accident and he

was 13 Fyodor decided to travel to the

countryside like sledge along with his

eyes and sisters he was given a hot

tempered horse to pull the sledge which

he mounted there were so many people in

the sledge that the horse couldn't move

it it reared threw the rider off and he

fell under the sledge he ran over feodor

alexeyevitch with all its weight and

crushed his chest Fyodor survived Japan

to his woes he suffered chest and back

pain for the rest of his life

Theodore was an enthusiastic follower of

the latest European trends he wanted to

be a reformer to sweep away all that was

outdated and backward in Russia and

bring in all the latest fashion and

innovations from the West but his

illness left him effectively sidelined a

virtual prisoner in his own palace

control of government fell into the

hands of the Tsar's uncle even with a

Slav ski at his family his rival Artem

on map EF brilliant diplomat and sworn

enemy of the Miller Slav ski clan was

sent into exile under the Youngs our

power once more lay with the boy our

Nobles

milah Slav ski dismissed the Department

of secret Affairs and the Department of

accounting format instruments of royal

government he himself took over two key

government departments the great

Treasury which controlled state finance

and the Department of ambassador's in

charge of foreign policy as well as

other minor departments other

departments were distributed amongst his

friends and relatives some of whom held

up to half a dozen different government

posts in just a few years a number of

government departments increased from 42

to 60 the total number of bureaucrats

rose from 882 to 2762 this new bloated

administration was riddled with corrupt

and lazy officials many of whom owed

their place at the Miller /ki family

it was love at first sight on Palm

Sunday during the celebration of

Christ's entry into Jerusalem a solemn

procession bearing icons and a crucifix

crossed Red Square and entered the

Kremlin Cathedral amid the crowd one

girl caught the eye of the 18 year olds

our she stood out less for her beauty

and for her proud and noble bearing Tsar

was captivated

the girl was found her name was Agatha a

guru shets Kea the daughter of a petty

nobleman who now lived with her uncle in

Moscow Theodora instructed the uncle to

keep his niece safe and not allow her to

marry without his permission

but the Tsar's choice of bride did not

suit them in a /e family they wanted him

to marry a girl from their own family

not the daughter of some even call

foraged provincial noble fifty years

later the historian Vasily tatischeff

investigated the facts and reported even

- laughs Sookie slandered agafia in

front of the Tsar blaming the both she

and her mother were known to be guilty

of several obscene acts but the girl

found out about this unjust accusation

and when questioned by officials

declared that no one should be in any

doubt as to her honour and swore to it

on her life

[Music]

reassured by this news

Czar decided to pay a secret visit to

his chosen one he took a trip through

the hills outside Moscow so on his way

back he could pass by Agra FIA's house

as if by accident

Pekka fears relatives told the girl to

stand in the window and for the first

time their eyes met

[Music]

Theodore took the first independent

decision of his life the scheming and

deceitful even Milla /ki was dismissed

from court he was no longer welcome in

the Tsar's presence to respect tradition

a formal presentation of Bridal

candidates was arranged for the Czar but

everyone knew the name of the winner

before the contest even began tsar

candidates and the organizers but it was

unthinkable to overlook the ancient

custom theodore now 19 and married was

at last recognized as having reached his

majority and assumed the full authority

of the tsar now he would take control of

his own fate and push forward his own

ideas on how russia should be governed

[Music]

his first act was to summon all the

nobles of the realm the most senior

nobles the boyars his advisers the

oconee chief and the members of the

council

they were to meet at one o'clock to

begin the work of reform beginning with

taxation the supporters are standing

army a variety of small taxes were

replaced with a single new tax every

household was now expected to pay 90

kopeks per year the equivalent of 72

kilograms of grain or 26 kilograms of

beef because of the acute shortage of

cash the Tsar sold the rights to collect

this tax to tax farmers helping to

quickly replenish the Treasury by 1680

state revenues totaled more than 1.2

million roubles customs and excise

duties accounted for 53 percent of

revenue direct taxation raised 44

percent and other minor taxes accounted

for the remainder next came a population

census completed in 1678 it identified

5.6 million people living in russia with

this only included taxpayers in the

Heartland regions

if non taxpayers were added plus those

in new settlements on the fringes of

Russia and across Siberia as well as the

Cossacks the total population was

approximately 12 million this made

Russia one of the world's most populated

countries and largest in terms of

territory by the end of the Romanov

dynasty in 1917 this population had

grown Eightfold to 103 million

next was boundary reform existing

boundaries were checked and new ones

established settling disputes over land

ownership and fixing the boundaries of

private estates royal estates and church

lands next army reform most settle parts

of Russia were divided into nine new

military districts from now on every

regiment was tied to one of these

districts or stationed there and did its

recruiting there 20 years later this

system would be the basis for even more

sweeping reforms by Theodore's younger

brother eater the great that helped

fight injustice the court of petitions

was reopened a person of any rank or

position could file a complaint to the

chamber of judgment and to the Czar

personally when Fyodor heard that some

petitions compared the zart of God he

was indignant he said that it was

indecent to write such words and that if

anybody dared to write again in that

style he would not regard their petition

with favor

Tsar Feodor also reformed the Penal Code

and abolished a range of barbaric

punishments including the cutting off of

hands feet and fingers prisoners who

would have received these punishments

were now sent to Siberia instead where

they helped to settle and develop the

vast empty lands that lay beyond the

Ural Mountains Moscow a city built of

wood used to be destroyed by fire about

once every generation in the reign of

Tsar Feodor large parts of the city were

rebuilt in stone for the first time the

State Treasury offered 10-year

interest-free loans to pay for the work

bazar would personally visit the site of

fires to see the loans issued most of

these medieval mortgages were never

repaid but they helped to build 10,000

new houses creating a new city of stone

finally the system of precedence by

which the boy our Nobles could inherit

government posts by virtue of rank alone

was abolished from now on appointments

would be based on merit and the Tsar's

judgment those as it was put whom the

great sovereign indicates tsar solemnly

burned the great books of rank which

catalogued the pedigree and precedence

of all russia's noble families in a

great bonfire in the courtyard of his

palace

desire had ushered in a new age in which

good government took precedence over the

boyars ancient privileges

Tsar Feodor was a man in a hurry he

introduced polish fashion at court some

courtiers even began to shave their

beards encouraged the founding of

Russia's first university based on

European lines

he built a fortress it is ium to guard

the southern border against Tatar raids

and opened the first state arms houses

in Russian history he began work on

reforming the courts sometimes it seemed

his illness had deserted him but it

never entirely left him

Fyodor knew it was a race against time

and there was much work to be done war

in the south against the Ottoman Turks

and Crimean Tatars proved costly it was

a conflict that might have been avoided

with the help of ottoman matveyev

czars most experienced diplomats but for

now he remained in exile in 1677 a

100,000 strong crimean Turkish army

invaded Ukraine it was met by a russian

ukrainian army with a strength of 57,000

men despite being outnumbered almost two

to one they managed to repel the Turkish

invader

the following year a Turkish army

200,000 strong was defeated by a Russian

army of 120,000 the Russian generals

were unable to capitalize on these

victories in 1681 the Treaty of

Manchester I was signed between Russia

the Ottoman Empire and Crimean Khanate

eastern Ukraine and the city of Kiev

remained in Russian hands Anitra river

became the new border with the ottomans

while a buffer zone was created between

the Nitra and boog river the war had

exhausted the Tsar but with peace his

health began to improve what's more his

beloved Queen his Tsar Itza was pregnant

with their first child baby was expected

that summer

but their happiness was not to last

there were complications with the birth

AG afiyah died three days later on July

14 1681

infant son outlived his mother by just

six days Theodore was thrown into

despair his always frail health now

began to deteriorate with alarming speed

[Music]

fyodor knew he needed an air to ensure a

peaceful succession when the time came

and seven months later he married again

this time his bride was a 14 year old

girl named Martha apraxia Theodore did

not even have the strength to stand

during the wedding ceremony just ten

weeks later he was dead at the age of 20

his final decline was so rapid he didn't

have time to leave instructions about

his succession

Theodore had the potential to become

Russia's first enlightened monarch to

lead Russia into the main current of

European civilization he had everything

that was required education

determination character

everything except health Tsar Feodor the

third ruled Russia for just five years

but in that time he created the basis

for one of the strongest armies in the

world introduced a system of social

welfare reduced taxation expanded the

borders of his realm transformed Moscow

from a city of wood into a city of stone

and laid the foundations of a secular

system of education he approved the

foundation of Russia's first university

but died before he could sign the

Charter Theodore's death paved the way

for a power struggle between two boyer

families Mila slovsky's relatives of

Zara Lexi's first wife later it's a

Maria and the nourish King's family of

Alexis second wife Natalia

[Music]

milah slovsky's candidate for Tsar was

Maria's son Prince even a 15 year old

boy half blind and disabled the nourish

kin supported Natalia's son Peter

healthy and clever but only 10 years old

an hour after Theodore's death the boy

asked Council with the support of

patriarch yogi declared Prince Peter to

be the new Tsar of Russia his mother's

family the nourish Kings seemed to have

won the day

for those at court it meant one boy our

family was out and another was in but

for one person expelled the ruin of all

their dreams

chapter 2 Sofia alekseevna

Safiya alekseevna aspired to what most

young women aspire to freedom happiness

laughs but her fate was not that of any

ordinary woman she was a Russian

princess daughter of tsar alexei sister

of the lake Fyodor in 1680 to nine

princesses lived in the Tsar's palace

they were color Tatyana Autopia Martha

Sofia

yekaterina Maria feodosia

and Natalya none were permitted to marry

no Russian man was of sufficient rank

and foreigners did not share their

Orthodox faith princesses spent their

lives in their chambers in strict

isolation from outsiders they only left

the palace for church or other important

ceremonies in their carriages they sat

behind closed curtains and if they went

anywhere on foot they were shielded from

public gaze by drapes held up by their

attendants

they're only amusements were the swings

of the palace park in summer sledging in

winter and performances by the court

musicians their lives were devoted to

family worship and decorum princesses

finish their education at the age of 10

they were told to read and write

arithmetic and theology

Sophia begged her father to let her

continue to study alongside her brother

Fyodor their teacher Simeon Polotsk II

remembered her as curious and clever and

that she studied philosophy theology

rhetoric polish and Latin she read

widely and even wrote her own plays

Sophia's heroine was poked area a 5th

century Byzantine princess who'd ruled

as regent for her younger brother

it was once Safina dream for herself her

brother Sofia door had occasionally

listened to her advice but no more

his death gave Sophia a long-awaited

chance Sofia was counting on her

disabled brother even becoming Tsar then

she could become the Russian pool

carrier and rule for him as regent

but the nourish kins were about to

thwart this plan by placing Peter not

even on the throne so Sofia decided to

intervene her plan centered on the

Streltsy musketeer units that were the

core of the Russian standing army there

were twenty six regiments twenty-two and

a half thousand men stationed in Moscow

their privileges included not having to

pay taxes and being allowed to carry out

private business when not on active

service a private soldier was paid

between three and five rubles a month

equivalent to between six hundred and

one thousand US dollars today an officer

was paid four times as much between

fifteen to twenty rubles a month while a

colonel weigh between 30 and 60 rubles

some unscrupulous Colonels dipped into

their soldiers wages to augment their

own pay

Streltsy wages were paid irregularly and

late officers not only skimmed off some

of their soldiers pay they sometimes

made them work like serfs on their own

estates streltsy had been pushed to

breaking point situation princess Sofia

plan to use to her advantage

meanwhile the nourish king's most able

supporter artem on matveyev had just

returned to moscow from exile this news

persuaded Saphir to act without delay

her supporters told the Streltsy that

the marushin said poison tsar feodor and

strangled his son prince even at the

insistence of patriarch yo Keem princes

even and Peter both perfectly well was

shown to the public but the Streltsy

were out for blood they broke into the

palace looking for the nourish kings and

their supporters Prince even hid in a

corner while Prince Peter clung to

Ottoman matveyev Streltsy pushed the

young Prince aside and dragged matveyev

away

a servant of the patriarch witnessed the

revolt and later described the scene

Ottoman matveyev was hacked to pieces

boy a uri dul guru cough was dragged

behind the gates and stabbed to death

next day his body was also cut into

pieces the Streltsy ransacked the

treasury and entered the Tsar's chambers

with weapons looking for boy our Nobles

to kill they smashed down a door to the

patriarchs chambers and threw his

steward from the window where he hanged

from the end of a rope

[Music]

the Streltsy revolt traumatized young

Peter he would neither forget nor

forgive

[Music]

the massacre lasted for three days the

victims included prominent nourishing

supporters including two of Prince

Peters uncles - government ministers

czars personal doctor at about 100

others May 19th

Streltsy demanded outstanding wages

totaling 240 thousand rubles May 23rd

they presented a new ultimatum to

Prince's Yvonne and Peter should sit on

the throne together finally on May 29th

they made their final demand Princess

Sofia was to become regent until Peter

was of age Russia had its princess

Bulgaria

sophia was playing with fire just six

weeks before peter had been proclaimed

tsar and the Streltsy had sworn

allegiance to him now they had butchered

his close relatives and handed power to

her princess had used armed men to clear

her path to power she wasn't the last to

do so in Russia which he went down in

history as the first the new Princess

Regent realized her position was

extremely precarious and moved quickly

to shore up her support first she

ordered the payment of all outstanding

debts to the Streltsy even melting down

some of the Tsar's silverware to meet

the cost then Sofia gave all the key

posts to her allies the ambassador's

department which handled foreign affairs

was given to her favorite can foresee

legal it's in streltsy Reiter cavalry

and great treasury department's

effectively control of the army as well

as state finances were given to count

even kovarsky nicknamed the windbag

levansky a veteran general and favorite

of the Streltsy soon realized that his

new position gave him almost unlimited

power the temptation he could not resist

so began the Kovan chena the bloody

summer of 1680 - when power in Moscow

resided with kovarsky and his Streltsy

troops the Russian capital had been

occupied by its own army Princess Sophia

had unleashed a dangerous power struggle

that threatened to topple Russia into

anarchy thankfully the Streltsy were not

the only military force in Russia now

she would turn to the nobles

[Music]

on the day of the Feast of the

Transfiguration Princess Regent Saphir

left the kremlin under the guise of

visiting the Donskoy monastery just

across the Moscow River but instead she

left the city and made for the monastery

of Trinity st. sergius where she planned

to take refuge from the safety of the

monastery Sofia sent letters across the

land condemning this new strut see

revolt and summoning all the oil Nobles

to her aid by the end of the 17th

century the nobleman's army or militia

totalled fourteen and a half thousand

men this amounted to ten percent of the

army these men had received their lands

in exchange for military service each

year they were expected to turn out for

review mounted on their own horse

equipped with their own arms and

accompanied by several armed serfs they

were obligated to join the army on

campaign whenever required main part of

the army 77,000 men or 50 percent the so

called regiments of the new order these

were writer Dragoon and hasar cavalry

units made up mostly of foreign

mercenaries the troops now in revolt the

Streltsy Musketeers made up 35 percent

of the army

[Music]

time was running out focus on ski

his arrogant behavior had made him many

powerful enemies the princess Regents

agents caught him in a tavern and

brought him to their mistress outside

Moscow

[Music]

he was pushed to his knees before the

princess Regent read his crimes of

treason and mutiny and beheaded his

position as head of the Streltsy

department we'll go to Fyodor Shukla

Vitti

Sophia's new favorite

the Streltsy revolt was over Princess

Regent returned to Moscow and took

residence in the Kremlin with Tsar even

while Peter regarded as the juniors are

moved to the palace of preobrazhenskaya

a villager preobrazhenskaya covered an

area 22 dirtiness or 24 hectares a

wooden Palace had been built there 20

years earlier and was the furthest royal

residence from the Kremlin Moscow's

foreign quarter lay between the Kremlin

and the palace at preobrazhenskaya the

young Tsar Peter devoted himself to

wargames forming the local boys into

so-called toy regiments they would one

day grow up to become a famous

preobrazhensky guards regiments fragile

balance was achieved with tsar peter and

his mother living at their country

palace and Sophia and Tsar Ivan living

in the Kremlin a double throne was made

for the joint rulers with a small window

at the back during audiences with

foreign ambassadors advisers whispered

to the young Tsar's through the window

telling them what to say Peter was

clever but still young while it was much

harder for his half-brother even like

many of the children from Zara Lexi's

first marriage even suffered from poor

health possibly linked to scurvy leaving

him weak and lethargic he also had some

form of intellectual disability and was

almost blind these severe health issues

left him with little enthusiasm or

interest in governing the state so

Princess Regent Sophia ruled with the

help of her favorite and lover Vasily

galitsin who now bore the grand title

guardian of the Tsar's Great Seal and

the state's great ambassadorial affairs

with Sophia's backing galitsin worked

out a breath-taking program of reform

that was a hundred and fifty years ahead

of its time it's starting point was the

abolition of serfdom but such radical

ideas were impossible to realize at that

time any attempt to free the serfs would

have triggered a wholesale revolt of the

nobles contemporaries called Vasily

galitsin the great he favored

western-style reforms spoke five

languages fluently was a superb diplomat

and had a great breadth of knowledge

what's more he was said to be the most

handsome man in Moscow sophia was

completely in love with him and wrote to

him almost every day in her letters she

told him how she prayed for his good

health and urged him not to exhaust

himself with endless work her gratitude

she wrote was impossible to express

without him none of her achievements

would have been possible galitsin urged

Sophia to continue her brother

Theodore's reforms but she never fully

grasped the need for such changes what's

more she faced stubborn opposition from

the boy our Nobles

[Music]

nevertheless it was Sofia who opened

Russia's first Institute of higher

education the Slavonic Greek Latin

Academy based on the Institute founded

by Fyodor his first professors were two

Greek brothers both of them renowned

scholars a degree took 12 years the main

disciplines were Greek Latin grammar

rhetoric philosophy and theology the

Academy was situated in the buildings of

the Zionist Spassky monastery today it

is the site of the Russian State

University for the Humanities the

Academy later spawned the Lomonosov

Moscow State University the Russian

Academy of Sciences and the Moscow

theological Academy in 1686 negotiations

began with Russia's Western neighbor the

polish-lithuanian Commonwealth galitsin

led a series of long and grueling

discussions which eventually led to the

signing of a treaty of eternal peace in

Moscow this bound the kingdoms of

Princess regent Sophia and Qingyuan

sobieski an alliance and was to prove

the crowning achievement of Russian

foreign policy in the 17th century

Russia's gains included the regions

around Smolensk and China cough as well

as parts of eastern Ukraine and the

cities of Zaporozhye

and Kiev the Treaty of eternal peace

contained one additional clause Russia

was to join the holy League military

alliance against the Turkish Ottoman

Empire this obliged Russia to go to war

against the Crimean Khanate

an ottoman ally

but galitsin was not in favor of war and

wanted to delay as long as possible

despite his misgivings Saphir placed

galitsin in charge of the army for the

forthcoming campaign she dreamed of

great victories that would unite Russia

behind her and cover her beloved

galitsin in glory no sooner had he left

for the front and Sofia began to write

to him in her letters she called

galitsin by his pet name

vasenka and worried endlessly about his

safety it was only when she embraced him

with her own arms she wrote that she

would no peace again in May 1687 a

100,000 strong Russian army joined

forces with Don and Zaporozhye cossacks

and advanced towards the Isthmus of

Perico

they found the fields had all been burnt

leaving no food for the horses some said

it was the Cossacks not the enemy who

burnt the land in fear of Russia's

growing power campaign was cut short the

next year an even bigger

Russian army advanced South Wars only

battle was fought on May 15th after

which the Tatars retreated and the

Russians advanced America when the news

reached Sophia in Moscow she was

ecstatic her letters back to galitsin

overflowed with love and adulation and

longing for the day they would be

reunited

[Music]

they're litsen however could advance no

further in fact he was already on his

way back to Moscow the scorched earth

tactics of his enemy had starved his

army of food and water leading to the

loss of half his men even though there

had been no major battles the campaign

was in fact a complete disaster

ghal it's ins role in this catastrophic

defeat would not be forgotten later when

he was sent into exile

one of the main charges against him

would be his ruinous handling of the

Crimean campaign

[Music]

on the eve of the day back he suffered

the worst blow of all the betrayal of

his beloved

[Music]

while colet's him was away fighting

Sophia had fallen for another man the

cynical and scheming Fyodor Shak levity

to flatter Sophia he had brought the

famous Ukrainian artist Alexander

Terrace image to Moscow to paint her

portrait he depicted the princess

wearing a regal crown sceptre in hand

and behind her a double-headed eagle

[Music]

Sofia adored it she ordered the portrait

to be engraved in copper so Coffey's

could be printed and sent to all the

courts of Europe by now Sofia was

styling herself by the grace of God a

great sovereign lady the pious tsarevna

great princess Sofia alekseevna autocrat

of the great little and the white

Russia's at state ceremonies and

ambassadorial receptions she no longer

felt the need to stand at a respectful

distance behind the Tsar's throne it was

said her inspiration was the English

Queen Elizabeth the first

as soon as our even turned 18 Sophia

arranged his marriage to the 20 year old

Roscoe via saltykova Sophia was counting

on the birth of a male heir to cement

the Millis laughs key branch of the

Romanov dynasty in power rival Naru shin

branch had of course had the same idea

Peter was not quite 17 when his mother

the Dowager Sorensen Natalya married him

off to the 19 year old year takia la

pagina she was neither clever nor

educated but healthy the outcome of

these marriages would shape the future

of the Romanov dynasty for generations

to come

[Music]

Yvonne inpress kavya had five daughters

but only three survived infancy

yekaterina Anna Empress Kavya and her

later became Empress of Russia the

Catarina's daughter anna leopoldovna

who came region for the young even the

sixth but he was the last male of the

Romanoff Millis laughs keyline Peter and

Yaya Kia had three sons but only the

eldest Alexei built his son became

Emperor Peter the second but he was the

last mayor of the romanovna Ruskin line

on May 30th 1689 tsar peter came of age

Sophia was now supposed to step down as

regent but she had no intention of

giving up power instead Sackler VT began

spreading false rumors amongst the

Streltsy regiments claiming that the

nourish Kings planned to assassinate

Sophia and Tsar even and send the

Streltsy away to garrison remote

fortresses

the Streltsy were unhappy but would not

risk open revolt then chat levity let it

be known that those who joined his

conspiracy would be paid two rubles for

each private 10 for each officer 100 for

each colonel plus the right to plunder

the houses of their victims Moscow was

on a knife edge on the night of August

7th loyal streltsy officers arrived at

peter's palace they told him that check

Levite II was planning to use the

Streltsy to murder Peter and his family

he's our reacted with horror and outrage

before fleeing to safety he wrote a

letter to even his brother and joint

ruler our sister Princess Sofia runs our

country as she wills bandits like

Chantal of VT and his friends plan to

murder us and our mothers now brothers

are we shall rule our country on our own

since we are both men our sister has

nothing more to do it it is shameful

czar to be men

to have someone else rule in our place

that evening princess Sofia received a

report that Peters Palace said

preobrazhenskaya was empty

Tsar Peter his mother pregnant wife and

entire court had left for the monastery

of Trinity sent Sergius his so-called

toy regiments now composed of young men

followed him there together with one

loyal Streltsy regiment

rumors began to fly around Moscow

everyone was on edge but quickly the

mood began to turn against Sofia August

13th

Sofia sent an emissary to Peter foyer

even throw you off the young Tsar would

not negotiate August 16th

booyah Peter preserve ski visited the

monastery with the same result August

20th

Sofia begged patriarch yo Akeem to visit

Peter he went but did not return he

stayed with Peter boyars officials and

even Streltsy began to flock to Peter's

rival court August 27th Sofia left to

negotiate with her brother in person she

realized that she shouldn't that her

humiliation would likely be in vain but

she could not simply sit and wait six

miles from the monastery near the spot

where she had had the Streltsy leader

kovarsky executed seven years before he

was meant by Toria cooled off her own

emissary from just two weeks ago he

handed her Peter's order to turn back

[Music]

August 31st Sofia returned to the

Kremlin where she gathered the Streltsy

in the square she told them that Peters

advisors sought to divide them by

inventing plots against Peters life but

that she was confident of their loyalty

to her her speech made little impact

only loyal Schack levity remained by her

side September 4th foreign regiments

under General Gordon went over to Peters

side September 6 streltsy arrests in

feodosia cavite and took him to Peter

for sentencing

[Music]

September 7th a Sealy galitsin came to

see Peter the Czar refused to meet him

and sent him into exile September 8th

the title of Tsarevna royal princess was

officially stripped from Sofia September

9th

Troy Haku Roth informs a fear of the

Tsar's well she was to enter the

monastery of Nova Davichi and remain

there for the rest of her life

September 12th shack Lafitte II was

beheaded by the main road and side the

Trinity monastry October 16th czars

Court boyars and army returned to Moscow

and Peter the first took up the reins of

government his elder brother even the

fifth remained joint ruler taking part

in ceremonies and his strength allowed

but his health continued to decline soon

even found it difficult to walk and was

almost completely blind he died seven

years later on February the 8th 1696

aged just 29 Princess Sophia lived under

guard in a tower of the Nova deechi

monastery she received food from the

Tsar's table as well as an allowance of

two thousand six hundred rubles a year

the same as the other royal princesses a

small staff of servants lived with her

an old nanny few Clark's and nine maids

for nine years

Sophia lived quietly in the monastery

reflecting on her years of power and the

fate of her two lovers one executed the

other exile to the north but she also

continued to intrigue exchanging secret

letters with her supporters

from June 16 98 Peter was in Holland

learning to build ships in the back home

poor treatment led 4000 streltsy to kill

their officers and march on Moscow

intending to restore Saphir to the

throne they were met by government

troops the preobrazhenskiy regiment

seminoff ski regiment the LeFort off

regiment the foreign regiment under

general gordon and the nobles militia

under general Shan the Streltsy were

defeated at New Jerusalem 30 miles from

Moscow and reprisals began general Shan

conducted the initial investigation he

had a hundred and thirty struts he

hanged 140 whipped and sent into exile

and 1960 banished to remote regions but

in August Peter returned to Moscow and

renewed the investigation he had another

2000 strout's he executed and 600 more

flogged and branded streltsy corpses

were hung from the walls of the Kremlin

and Sophia's residence the Nova Davichi

monastery Streltsy property was

plundered and even the 16 regiments that

didn't take part in the revolt were

disbanded

Princess Sofia was forced to take the

veil under the name of Susanna boyars

close to her were interrogated and then

banished a distant monasteries her

allowance was slashed a staff changed

and security tightened the bodies of

three Streltsy hung by the window of her

cell for five months

[Music]

once she had struck terror at court won

the favor of any man she wanted held the

power to invoke and quell revolts waged

Wars and concluded brilliant peace

treaties she dreamed of becoming a real

ruler like the Byzantine princess

Bulgaria whose tale had captivated her

as a child she had defied all the odds

to make her dream a reality

becoming the first Russian princess to

escape her secluded existence the first

to live life and wield power but in the

end her downfall was complete for seven

years of rule

she spent 15 years in a monastery cell

she died in 1704 aged 46 and was buried

in the cemetery of the novodevichy

monastery by the time of her death great

changes were sweeping over the country

she had once ruled changes that would

transform Russia forever the history of

the old Russian state was at an end the

history of a new Russian Empire was

beginning

[Music]

[Music]

Peter Tsar of Russia was exploring the

boat sheds when he discovered a type of

boat he'd never seen before

he asked the bunt right who had built

this remarkable craft he was told it was

an English boat its construction allowed

it to sail into the wind as well as away

from it

Peter was amazed

all his victories were to defy tradition

expectation common sense and sometimes

even the laws of physics the spirit of

his reign was summed up with the words

inscribed on his medals even the

impossible is possible

Peter was 10 years old when he first

came face-to-face with a violent mob

rebels from the Streltsy infantry

regiments dragged away his friends and

relatives and butchered them like cattle

the trauma caused Peter to suffer from

convulsions for the rest of his life no

one could have guessed that this

terrified boy would one day sweep away

the old Russia and build a new one in

its place

chapter 1 Peter the first Alekseyevich

Peter was the youngest son of tsar

alexei the first and not expected to

inherit the throne alexei died when

peter was just four and was succeeded by

his eldest son theodore the third but

when Fyodor died just six years later

the nobles decided ten-year old Peter

would succeed him by passing the middle

brother fifteen year old even was

severely disabled after a revolt by the

Streltsy regiments real power fell into

the hands of their ambitious sister

Sofia who ruled as Princess Regent

Peter and his mother the dowager's are

Ritzer Natalia was sent to live on the

Preobrazhensky estate on the outskirts

of Moscow there Peter formed all the

boys his own age into a toy regiment for

his elaborate war games young Tsar was

obsessed with war not just with armies

but navies too he took his toy regiment

to Lake Loschiavo 80 miles north of

Moscow where they learned to build and

sail boats and experiment with naval

tactics

[Music]

ZAF heater was remarkable in many ways

but most obviously in physical stature

at 6 foot 7 or 204 centimeters

he towered nearly half a meter over most

of his contemporaries what's more his

gigantic body had unusual proportions

he had very long arms with massive hands

but small feet narrow shoulders and a

small head his face was handsome but

became contorted when he was worried or

anxious the legacy of his childhood

traumas with his life pita was filled

with inexhaustible energy he could

barely stand still and was always

looking for some exciting activity to

throw himself into unlike his older

brothers who didn't get expert tutors he

didn't even finish his education and

made spelling mistakes his entire life

and his mother Tsaritsa Natalia received

her Restless son's letters from Lake

Viejo they made her both laugh and cry

this is a letter for my dearest mother

czar Itza and great Duchess Natalia

Carol Avila from her boy petrushka who

is working constantly thanks to your

prayers were all well the lake is no

longer covered with ice and all the

boats are being repaired

we need rope though I beg you to send me

700 fathoms of rope and we'll be able to

proceed

with that I ask for your blessing

Peter was fascinated by everything to do

with craftsmanship by the age of 18 he

knew smithing carpentry wood turning and

shoe making he'd studied military

science fortification and shipbuilding

and learned German by speaking to men

from the foreign quarter this was an

area of Moscow set aside for foreigners

established in 1652 when Peter's father

Tsar Alexei ordered all non Orthodox

Christians to move to a new settlement

outside the city the new foreign quarter

was built just outside the walls along

the Yauza River it was self governed and

home to Europeans of all nationalities

most were military men doctors or

craftsmen all seeking professional

opportunities in Russia

the foreign quarter was just a few miles

from Peter's palace at preobrazhenskaya

everyday he saw the spires of its

Lutheran churches and heard the sounds

of bustling activity from within its

walls unable to contain his curiosity

any longer about how these Europeans

lived he decided to pay a visit he would

soon make himself at home

[Music]

[Music]

the Swiss soldier Franz LeFort was an

experienced officer handsome capable and

well-connected he was also a society

host of some note and Tsar Peter became

a regular guest at his house

France LeFort soon joined the Tsar's

inner circle

becoming one of Peters most trusted

friends and advisors he also introduced

Peter to his servant Alexander Menshikov

destined to become another of the Tsar's

closest confidants and then there was an

amongst the daughter of a dutch wine

merchant who soon became peter's lover

Peter became a regular visitor to the

foreign Quarter learning to speak German

and Dutch dancing with girls drinking

wine and smoking his pipe naturally when

his mother found out she was horrified

in the hope of encouraging him to settle

down

she decided Peter should get married his

bride was the 19 year old give Doki aloo

patina

she seemed an ideal match Oh beautiful

sensible and extremely pious but just

two months after the wedding the new

husband left for Lake pleasure a vow

meanwhile unrest was brewing in Moscow

Princess Regent Sofia was refusing to

relinquish power and her agents were

trying to incite Streltsy troops to

murder Peter and his family at

preobrazhenskaya when loyal Streltsy

officers arrived one hot August night to

warn him of the plot against his life

Peter lost his nerve he ran out into the

courtyard wearing only his nightshirt

mounted a horse and rode off into the

forest on his own the next morning it

emerged he'd ridden to the monastery of

Trinity sent Sergius he sent word for

his family his court and all boil troops

to join him there nobles and Generals

sick of Sophia's rule sided with Peter

sophia was banished to a monastery and

peter took power

[Music]

his first challenge was war Russia had

recently agreed to join Poland and

Austria as a member of the Holy League

an alliance of Christian states fighting

the Muslim Ottoman Empire their ultimate

goal was to capture the Ottoman capital

Constantinople Sophia had waged two wars

against the Ottomans ally

the Crimean Khanate in 1695 Peter

decided to attack the Ottomans

themselves targeting the fortress of ass

off which blocked Russia's access from

the Don River to the Sea of Azov Peter

would fulfill his obligation to the Holy

League while winning a strategic port

for Russia for the first time the

Russian army moved not by land but by

river traveling down the Volga and Dawn

on specially constructed barges Peter

himself held the rank of senior

artillery officer and was the Army's

chief gunner at first it all seemed just

a grander version of his wargames and

mock battles but not for long

two attempts to storm the fortress were

repulsed and Peter was forced to order a

retreat

all winter new vessels were built and

launched from Voronezh in the dawn's

upper reaches by spring of sixty ninety

six the first Russian fleet consisting

of two large warships 23 all powered

galleys and one and a half thousand

smaller vessels sailed down the dawn to

as off the fortress was now besieged not

just from land but from sea as well

within a month this combined assault

forced the Turks to surrender the

fortress the Russians also won their

first naval victory defeating an ottoman

fleet that attempted to break the siege

Peter returned to Moscow in triumph but

he needed allies to continue his war

against the Ottoman Empire he formed a

ground embassy to travel to Europe which

he would accompany himself traveling

incognito under the name Peter mikhaylov

Peter appointed his head steward Fyodor

Ramadan offski to take over his duties

in Moscow inferring on him jokingly the

title Prince Caesar he was entrusted

with the care of the Tsar's family Czar

it'sa yebda Kea and this six year old

son Prince Alexei Peter's actions were

with that precedent the court was

horrified but no one dared to object

many years later the engineer and Rana

Tov

described the reaction in his memoirs

who ever heard or read of a ruler who

having taken the throne left behind his

crown and scepter entrusted rule to one

of his nobles and left to wander through

strange lands it was completely unheard

of but this is what happened in Russia

at last bazaar got to see the world that

he had read and dreamed about since his

youth Europe fascinated Peter not so

much the art or the music which rather

bored him but everything to do with

science technology and industry and he

wanted to try everything with his own

hands in the netherlands peter mikhaylov

got a job as a carpenter in a shipyard

to learn how the dutch build their ships

in england he also visited the docks to

study shipbuilding foreigners didn't

know what to make of him this strange

gangly Russian who wanted to go

everywhere see everything and tried for

himself

[Music]

he was curious about everything how

whales were hunted how the sick were

treated how paper was made wherever he

went he tried to persuade specialists to

move to Russia to share their expertise

with his people

some even agreed but Peters main goal to

find allies for his war against the

Turks failed Europe's great powers were

too busy preparing for their own war to

settle the issue of Spanish Succession

no one had time for an alliance with

far-off Russia but in Poland Peter did

manage to find an ally to fight Sweden

his northern rifle augustus king of the

Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth and

elector of Saxony was said to be the

strongest man in Europe when the two

rulers met they agreed to dine together

one observer later recalled that when

King Augustus saw that a silver dish on

the table wasn't clean he picked it up

and rolled it into a tube with his bare

hands Tsar Peter thinking the Polish

King was trying to intimidate him picked

up another silver plate and did exactly

the same

[Music]

the two rulers began picking up and

bending all the dishes within reach as

they sat down laughing sarpy to joked

brother Augustus we been silver fairly

but it will be much harder work to bend

Swedish iron Peter hoped that a

victorious war against Sweden would

allow Russia to reclaim former

territories in the Baltic particularly

the Eastern Shore of the Gulf of Finland

this would give Russia access to the

Baltic and a sea route to Europe but

Peters festivities were interrupted by

bad news from home in the summer of 1698

the Streltsy troops whose revolted so

scarred him as a child rebelled once

more

[Music]

rebel regiments were now marching on the

capital to Moscow they declared will

destroy the foreign quarter and beat the

foreigners who reject our Orthodox faith

from Moscow come hell or high water for

we have a higher purpose we will keep

the Tsar out of Moscow and kill him for

his faith in these foreigners

[Applause]

Peter traveled 300 miles in four weeks

to reach Moscow but by the time he

arrived his deputy Fyodor abaddon offski

had defeated the rebels and began

dealing with the ringleaders a hundred

and thirty Streltsy were executed 150

more flogged and exiled to Siberia but

it was not enough for Peter

he ordered new interrogations and more

torture some of which he attended

personally a public mass execution was

arranged in Moscow 800 Streltsy were

beheaded in Red Square hundreds more

were hanged from the walls of the

Kremlin Peter beheaded five rebels

himself noblemen and foreign diplomats

witnessed the bloodbath around 2,000

strumsy were executed in total 800

flogged and sent to Siberia

strengths II was now a word that Peter

equated only with anarchy and revolt

after the executions he decided to make

some changes both in his own life and

his kingdom he forced his unloved wife

yebda kiya to become a nun and entrusted

the care of their eight-year-old son

Alexei to his sister Natalia Peter began

to live openly with his Dutch lover and

Aman's the conservative Russian nobility

was shocked the Peter didn't care

then Peter made it compulsory for all

nobles and townsman to shave their

beards off and wear european-style

clothes the only people allowed to keep

their beards were peasants priests of

the Orthodox Church and those who paid a

hefty beard tax a beard permit costs 600

rubles a year for a nobleman worth about

a hundred thousand dollars today and 30

rubles for a servant or five thousand

dollars today Peter also forced his

court to adopt European customs wives

and daughters had to wear European

dresses everyone had to know how to

dance and make polite conversation

courtiers had to brush their teeth every

morning drink coffee

shun traditional Russian food like

pickled cabbage and eat more Dutch

dishes Peter reformed the calendar so

that years were no longer counted from

the date of creation but from the birth

of Christ like the rest of Europe

overnight yes 7208 became 1700 a new

year was moved from September the 1st to

January the 1st in honor of the occasion

the Tsar instructed his people to

decorate fir trees entertain their

children and go sledging adults he

instructed were not to drink and fight

there were enough days of the year for

that already

the first New Year festivities led to a

huge fire that almost burned down Moscow

Peter was not concerned he didn't care

much for old Moscow besides he was

preoccupied with preparations for his

war against Sweden a secret alliance

with the polish king or Gustus a second

and the King of Denmark and Norway

Frederick the fourth had now been signed

both Kings looked on czar Peter as the

junior partner their adversary was the

18-year old King Karl the 12th of Sweden

a lover of hunting and parades who no

one took seriously in the spring of 1700

ruler of the Polish Lithuanian

Commonwealth launched an offensive in

the Baltic and laid siege to the Swedish

held city of Riga but for the King of

Denmark the war quickly took a

disastrous turn when the Swedish fleet

appeared unexpectedly outside Copenhagen

unable to defend his capital the Danish

King was forced to make peace with

Sweden soon Augustus was forced to

withdraw from Riga leaving Peter with

his ill-trained forces to face the

greatest army in Europe alone

[Music]

Russian troops were besieging nava on

the Baltic coast but they didn't have

enough artillery to break down its walls

after two weeks the main Swedish army

began to close in as it approached Peter

appointed the Juke tu crois as

commander-in-chief and left for Novgorod

he was not there to see the outnumbered

Swedish infantry attacked through the

blizzard and inflict a crushing defeat

on the Russian army he didn't see the

surrender of his hired foreign officers

or the moment his men cast their banners

at the feet of the Swedish King Peter

had lost one army now he had to forge a

new one

[Music]

his military reforms would create

Russia's first Regular Army a

professional force made up of full-time

conscript soldiers military service was

required from all nobles and peasants

were expected to send one man from every

20 households who served for life troops

were rigorously trained in drill while

Peters toy regiment formed the basis for

two new elite units the prayer regen ski

guards and seminoff ski guards soldiers

also received new weapons repairs and

flintlock muskets instead of the old our

key buses in ten years the Russian army

was expanded to a strength of two

hundred thousand men supported by a

force of 100,000 Cossack cavalry Peter

had created the largest and most modern

army in Russian history

after the catastrophe at Nava Peter

needed to replenish the Treasury quickly

he reduced the amount of silver in the

coins providing more cash in the short

term but devaluing the currency driving

prices up he was pushing the country to

the edge of another rebellion he was

making people dress up like heretics

forcing them to cut off their beards and

now forcing them to pay for his

disastrous war were rumors that bizarre

who'd returned from abroad was a

different man

the real Tsar it was said was in prison

far across the sea others openly called

him the Antichrist Peter didn't care

instead he ordered church bells to be

taken down and melted into cabin

ETA's draconian taxes were bleeding

Russia dry and triggering riots and

revolts across the land but the money

paid for two large warships the

beginning of the Russian Baltic Fleet

and allowed him to open foundries in the

Urals that was soon supplying the army

and navy with modern cannon the

introduction of modern artillery

combined with the effect of reforms and

spending increases soon brought results

Russia could now wage war against Sweden

as an equal victories followed with the

Russian army capturing the fortresses of

notre berg mean chance nava and marian

blog

on the eve of this last victory the Tsar

received bitter news his mistress Anna

Mons who'd lived with him like a wife

for 10 years had been cheating on him

the passion of their youth was long gone

but her betrayal was still painful to

Peter

his loyal friend and associate Prince

Menshikov helped desire to overcome his

heartbreak by finding him a new mistress

the beautiful and charming

Martis Gavron skier recently liberated

by Russian forces from the fortress city

of Marienberg martyr turned out to be

the woman that Peter needed in his life

two years later he brought her to

preobrazhenskaya as his bride where she

converted to orthodoxy and took the name

Catherine alexeyevna this kind and

gentle woman who had once served as a

housemaid and remained illiterate all

her life would bear Peter 11 children

and in time be crowned Empress of Russia

for now the great northern war ground on

an hare island where the river neva

flows into the Gulf of Finland the

Russians began to build a fort with six

fast ian's named the Peter and Paul

Fortress it guarded the first Russian

port on the Baltic Sea

this was destined to be the site of a

new Russian capital st. Petersburg in

six months the first foreign ship would

arrive at the port three years later the

first warships would be launched from

the city's Admiralty shipyard peter's

dream of dominating the Baltic Sea was

within reach

the construction of the Czar's new

capital was beset with difficulties and

needless to say hugely expensive first

the marshes had to be drained then

numerous dams and dikes put in place to

protect the land from flooding it took

20,000 logs to build just one dike today

it would take 20 freight trains to

deliver this much timber each year

40,000 laborers arrived to help build

the new city and for the first time the

czar authorized the use of thousands of

Christmas as convict labour they were

formed into labor battalions working for

up to 15 hours a day and even

around-the-clock during the white nights

of summer in 15 years these brutal

conditions would claim the lives of an

estimated 100,000 workers Europe paid

little attention to Peters victories all

they saw was a greedy tsar of the

Muscovites

seizing a piece of boggy shoreline and

hurriedly settling in there they were

much more interested in his enemy Carl

the 12th of Sweden waging war in the

heart of Europe against the Polish King

Augustus in 1706 Carl defeated August's

forced him to give up his throne and

then turned on Russia two armies met on

June 27th 1709 four miles outside

Poltava

[Music]

both monarchs led their armies in person

in the eve of battle Carl addressed his

troops he promised them that the next

day they'd eat at the table of the Tsar

of Russia he's prepared many dishes for

us go where glory calls czar Peter also

spoke to his troops soldiers a time has

come that will decide the fate of our

motherland do not think you are fighting

for Peter you are fighting for the state

he is entrusted with for your families

your motherland for our Orthodox Church

the Swedish army at Poltava had a

strength of 8,000 infantry 8000 cavalry

and just four cannon the Russian army

consisted of 25,000 infantry 9,000

cavalry and 73 cannon the battle raged

for 10 hours and ended in a brilliant

victory for the Russian army Russian

losses were 1,300 men killed and 3,300

wounded

the Swedes suffered 8,000 casualties

almost twice as many as the Russians

while 4,000 were taken prisoner and

17,000 more lost during the retreat the

Battle of Poltava ended 100 years of

Swedish military dominance in Europe

though Kyle remained a threat as long as

he still commanded a powerful navy the

rest of Europe however was forced to

recognize that Russia long regarded as

wild and backward was now a force to be

reckoned with

[Music]

Peter had turned his back on Moscow its

onion domes winding streets and apple

orchards his favorite place in the whole

world was now st. Petersburg Peter

described these boggy windswept islands

as paradise he liked to oversee as much

of the work as possible himself

including the construction of the summer

palace inspired by the stately homes and

Gardens he'd visited in Europe everyday

Peter spent here was a happy one as he

watched his new capital rise up around

him

the order that every cart entering the

city had to bring three large stones

with it

weighing not less than five pounds these

were used to turn streets of mud into

the city's first paved roads Peter could

already see the great palaces wide

boulevards parks and promenade that

would one day make this city the Venice

of the north but Peters quest to

modernize Russia was far from complete

everything had to change finances

bureaucracy laws there was no master

plan it would be step by step as

dictated by necessity and the most

pressing need was for money

ETA's tax reform centered on the

creation of a poll tax to be paid once a

year by every male subject in the realm

peasants had to pay seventy-four kopacz

about a hundred dollars today while

those living in towns had to pay nearly

double 1.2 roubles about $200 today

peasants in some parts of the country

were now taxed for the first time

including inhabitants of the far north

Siberia

and the Volga region state revenue

tripled providing Peter with the money

necessary for further reforms Peter saw

his work as a sacred duty and himself as

the motherland's faithful servant he

expected the same from all his subjects

regardless of rank from the grandest

noble to the humblest peasant to ensure

the smooth running of the state he

created the post of fiscal a secret

Informer who sniffed out corruption

which was then punished brutally to

deter others but bribe taking and

embezzlement remained endemic for every

100 rubles collected in state taxation

scarcely 30 reached the state treasury

the greatest embezzler of all was the

Tsar's close friend Prince Menshikov

whose income almost equalled that of the

state Peter finally lost all patience

declaring that if someone stole even

just enough money to buy himself a piece

of rope that rope would be used to hang

them Menshikov talked him down warning

that if he passed such a law he'd soon

have no subjects left

PETA was involved in drawing up statutes

and charters for many new bodies from

the Academy of Sciences to the Admiralty

as well as issuing hundreds of decrees

czar legislated on almost every aspect

of Russian life from the type of boot

polish used to the width of cloth that

was produced profits of merchants the

proper way to construct stoves farming

implements the correct form of wedding

the treatment of the sick what sort of

coffin should be used to bury the dead

and how many times a week a sauna should

be heated and there were more each new

law stipulated the punishment for

breaking it a fine for talking in church

the death penalty for treason Peter it

was clear his subjects were like

children who couldn't be trusted to run

their lives without his supervision he

didn't ask their opinion of course nor

did he ask the opinion of his son Alexei

whose life he also governed in every

small detail Tsarevich Alexei was the

son of Peters first wife lived okiya who

was banished to a convent when he was 8

he was raised instead by his aunt

Princess Natalya Peter tried to involve

Alexei in affairs of state and took him

on campaign when he was just 12 boy

showed early promise with an aptitude

for languages and mathematics with

Peters bullying behavior caused Alexei

to fear and eventually loathe his own

father and secretly wish him dead

[Music]

the Tsar's enemies persuaded Alexi to

flee to Vienna he was signing his own

death warrant Russian agents soon found

him and brought him back to face his

father's judgment the prince was

terrified under torture he named all

those he knew to be enemies of the Tsar

and renounced his right to inherit the

throne he had fled it emerged because he

was convinced his father intended to

have him killed the prince was

imprisoned in the peter and paul

fortress On June 25th 1718 a court found

Alexi guilty of treason and sentenced

him to death the next day the prince was

found dead in his cell the official

cause of death was an apoplectic fit the

real cause cannot be proved what is

known is that the prince was cruelly

tortured for days during his

interrogation the day after his son's

death Peter celebrated the ninth

anniversary of the Battle of Poltava

those close to him could see his grief

I suffer for the entire motherland he

wrote my enemy's play vile tricks

against me it's hard for people to

believe in my innocence as they know

none of the facts

but God sees the truth Peter could see

with brutal clarity how precarious his

achievements were if he died everything

would collapse and the Tsar was not a

well man the opinion of Peters doctor

the rent is bloomin trust was that his

44 year old patient suffered from

chronic bronchitis inflammation of the

bowels chronic kidney disease kidney

stones swollen liver and damaged nerves

Peter wasn't good at following diets or

cutting down on alcohol instead he went

too sparse to take the local mineral

water heater was now spurred on by a

sense of his own mortality first he

needed to end the great northern war now

in its 20th year even after Carl the

12th fell in battle Sweden would not

make peace and refused to recognize

Peters Baltic conquests Russia would

first have to defeat Sweden's Navy in

1714 at gank at the Russian galleys won

their first victory over the Swedes six

years later at brendham they captured

four Swedish frigates Sweden then signed

an alliance with Britain and a joint

Anglo Swedish squadron approached

Russia's Baltic Fleet base at revel it

was then forced to withdraw

in 1721 the war ended with the Treaty of

NICHD at Sweden recognize Russian

ownership of ingria which became the

province of st. Petersburg Livonia Baden

Latvia and southern Estonia estland now

northern Estonia and part of Corellia

Russia had its Baltic Sea outlet and

with it the status of a European power

[Music]

rushon Senate asked Peter to accept the

title father of the nation Peter the

Great Emperor of all Russia

the moment marked the end of the

Russians Adam and the birth of the

Russian Empire but what future for the

house of Romanov few of Peters children

has survived infancy his heir Peter died

at the age of three he had two adult

daughters Anna and Elizabeth and a

grandson little Peter the son of the

late czarevitch Alexei but Peter didn't

want the boy to succeed him yet fearing

he would become the puppet of his

enemies who would try to undo all his

reforms Peter decided to change the

ancient customs of succession he issued

a decree allowing a ruler to choose

their successor let the ruler be always

free it said to choose to whom they will

give their inheritance in the spring of

1720 for at the Cathedral of the

Assumption in the Kremlin Peter solemnly

crowned his wife Catherine as Empress

did it mean he intended to leave the

throne to her za made no mention of the

matter

soon after the coronation Peter learned

that Catherine had been unfaithful to

him and that her lover was the brother

of his former dutch mistress Anna Mons

it was a heavy blow Catherine was Peters

greatest love and closest companion she

was the only one able to calm his

outbursts of rage the German diplomat

count Henning Friedrich bazevich

witnessed such a scene more than once he

used to have fits caused by a dark

thought entering his head that someone

was trying to kill him these episodes

were a nightmare for those closest to

him

the newer fit was coming when his mouth

started to shake they would immediately

send for the Empress she would start

talking to him and the sound of her

voice calmed him down she used to make

him sit down and would then take his

head in her hands brushing it gently it

was like magic he'd fall asleep in a

matter of minutes so as not to disturb

him she'd hold his head against her

chest and sit without moving for two or

three hours after that he'd wake up

fresh and invigorated

Peter had never been a faithful husband

on campaign he would bed the servants

and the soldiers wives had even

established a set fee for their services

one bucket per night nor did the ladies

of court escape desires attention in his

father's day women were kept out of

sight now instead of being treated like

slaves it was said they were worshipped

like goddesses the many sudden changes

to Russian customs social norms and

dress were soon being blamed for a

collapse in morality Czar himself set a

terrible example his lovers included

Mary Hamilton a lady-in-waiting countess

Abdul Chia Cherne Shova antis Maria

rumyantseva the Romanian countess maria

Cantor Mia

Elizaveta scindia all of whom slept with

Peter with the full knowledge of their

fathers or husbands

Catherine had tolerated all of the

Czar's affairs and never reproached him

for them with that was expected Peter

had Catherine's lover arrested and

charged with accepting bribes to avoid

public disgrace the investigation was

Swift he was found guilty in five days

and dead in eight Peeta had his severed

head preserved in alcohol and placed in

a jar then it was rumoured he delivered

this gruesome gift to Catherine's

chambers in person Emperor and Empress

did not speak for nearly a year he

neither dined nor slept together but in

the autumn of 1724 Peter's health

suddenly got worse it continued to

ignore his doctor's advice now he would

pay the price

On January the 16th Peter was too ill to

leave his bed he called for the Empress

he talked for three hours

all that time Catherine knelt beside him

at last they made peace and forgave each

other the next day Peter was in

excruciating pain but the doctors could

provide no relief his screams echoed

through the palace Catherine did not

leave his bedside On January 22nd in

between fits

Peter confessed his sins five days later

he asked for a desk to write his will he

didn't know that in the next room

generals and Senators were discussing

the succession for many of them it was a

matter of life and death

1/2 Dukes Dolgoruky Ellison and Rhett

Neen were for the 10-year old Peter they

Prince Alexei son

the other half knew men like menshikov

and Tolstoy who'd led the investigation

against Prince Alexei feared his son

would seek to avenge his father he

wanted the Empress to take the throne

Peter wrote just two words give

everything and fainted at 4:00 a.m. the

Senate decided the throne must go to

Catherine she was still at the Tsar's

bedside at ten past five

he died in her arms

[Music]

[Music]

for the lowborn sir it sir to succeed

her husband caused a stir but nothing to

do with Peters rain could shock the

Russians anymore she would be Russia's

second female ruler in 30 years and

there was great sympathy for Catherine

her life was a fairy tale a housemaid

who'd captured the heart of a czar

become his Queen and Empress

[Music]

chapter 2 Catherine the first alexeyevna

[Music]

the Empress knew nothing about ruling

estate

she couldn't even read and write the

only thing she ever mastered was how to

sign her own name but that was enough to

authorize the founding of a Russian

Academy of Sciences as Peter had always

dreamed and to authorize be to sparing

x' expedition to the far east on the

whole catherine left the governing to

others and devoted herself to parties

and drinking she drank ferociously with

many lovers and danced till dawn

a typical day for the Empress began when

she rose from bed at 4 o'clock in the

afternoon she dined at 8 then took a

walk in the summer garden she usually

went to bed around 10 o'clock the next

morning the court was dominated by the

serene counter legs and ER daniela which

menshikov it was he who had first

introduced catherine to peter then he

had put her on the throne now he held

the reins of power he ruled through a

new body a supreme Privy Council

formally its role was to advise the

Empress but in reality it ran the

country

[Music]

Catherine didn't attend the council

meetings she had no interest she

listened to its reports but for no more

than half an hour any longer gave her a

headache the Empress is dissolute

lifestyle soon led to serious health

problems she put on weight and suffered

from kidney disease and a heightened

pulse it was plain to see that Catherine

would not live much longer

so menshikov began to plan for the

future persuading the Empress to sign a

will by which Prince Peter would inherit

the throne but only after he married

menshikov's daughter on May the 6th 1727

Catherine the first died she would be

remembered as a kind and marries a

Ritzer and a loyal companion of Peter

the Great

many had believed that without peter the

great's iron will Russia would revert to

being a second-rate power on the margins

of Europe but Peters reforms had created

an unstoppable momentum of their own

in st. Petersburg palaces were rising

along the shores of the Baltic gardens

were planted and wide boulevards paved

they were the first in Russia to be lit

by oil lamps cannon-armed Russian

warships stood out at sea while Russia

got its first printed newspaper via de

masti with a circulation of between two

hundred and four thousand merchants

goods travelled from San Petersburg to

Moscow along newly dug canals advanced

schools of artillery medicine and

navigation were opened and the Academy

of Science is established in the Urals

nine foundries produced seven million

pounds of cast iron a year and two

hundred thousand pounds of copper they

supplied Russia's new armaments industry

turning out muskets and cannon for what

was now one of the largest most powerful

armies in Europe

[Music]

Peter had dragged Russia from the Middle

Ages into the modern world but his new

state would now have to prove its

resilience and whether the storm of

dynastic crisis and intrigue it would be

40 years before there was another

Russian ruler to match Peter the Great

[Music]

the court of 18th century Imperial

Russia was a place of etiquette and

excess stunning bores and carnivals

jesters and fireworks

[Music]

most popular dance was the quadrille in

which the dancers constantly changed

their partners around these courtiers

spun a huge Russian Empire its rulers

coming and going like partners in the

dance

this was Russia's age of Palace

revolutions

[Music]

the year 1727 few years after the death

of Peter the Great

Peter had forged an empire through iron

will and firm rule without him it seemed

to have lost its purpose state revenue

was collapsing ships stood unfinished in

the shipyards the army lacked vital

equipment government bureaucracy was

riddled with corruption

supreme Privy Council ruled the state it

consisted of a handful of nobles and

chiefly looked after their own interests

and on the throne twelve-year-old boy

chapter 1 e 2 the second Alexeyevich e 2

the second was the son of Prince Alexei

and the German princess Sophie Charlotte

of brunswick-lüneburg making him the

grandson of Peter the Great his mother

died soon after childbirth his father

when he was just 2 his older sister

Natalia was his only close family Peter

seemed unlikely to inherit the throne as

Peter the Great had two other sons Peter

and Paul but they both died in infancy

making Peter the last male of the

Romanov dynasty glein Peter was born

into an environment devoid of love or

affection his parents cared little for

each other while his father lived in

terror of his grandfather Peter the

Great

indifferent nursemaids gave him wine to

stop him crying his tutors were not much

better he was taught some German and

Latin but that was the extent of his

learning even his Russian was bad

nevertheless by the age of seven he was

well acquainted with the lavish

entertainments of court

young Peter wasn't interested in the

army the Navy or science only in having

fun

it didn't worry those around him on the

contrary it served their interests they

wanted a czar they could control a czar

who was in their pocket it was only a

question of whose pocket he ended up in

when peter ii became emperor in 1727 he

was immediately taken under the wing of

his serene highness alexander danilevich

menshikov he'd been a close friend and

associate of Peter the Great and his

widow empress catherine the first who

was the most influential man in russia

[Music]

shortly before Catherine's death

menshikov had persuaded the Empress to

sign a will that made young Peter her

heir there was one condition on coming

of age

Peter was to marry menshikov's daughter

Maria then menshikov's control of the

young Tsar would be total of course no

one asked for Peters opinion on any of

this

[Music]

soon after his coronation the

twelve-year-old Peter found himself

engaged was 16 year old Maria Mancha

Cova the Emperor's bride received the

title Imperial Highness and an annual

allowance of thirty four thousand rubles

peter ii found his fiancee deeply

uninteresting in his letters he referred

to her as the stone statue or the

porcelain doll meanwhile menshikov moved

the young Tsar into his own sand

Petersburg palace to shield him from any

unwanted external influence and assigned

him a governor Baron Andrei Ivanovich

Osterman deputy minister of foreign

affairs but the Emperor's studies didn't

last long

Menshikov suddenly fell seriously ill

and in his absence Peter fell in with a

young rake even dull guru cough who

encouraged him to flee menshikov's

stifling supervision tsar quickly fell

under the influence of dal guru cough

and his powerful family who were bitter

rivals of Menshikov with their

encouragement he and his governor baron

Osterman moved out of menshikov's palace

and into the peterhof palace he also

broke off his engagement to Maryam and

she Cova soon a special commission found

Menshikov guilty of embezzling state

funds he was stripped of all his titles

honours estates and property and sent

with his family into internal exile in

Siberia

dal-gu coughs with the wily baron

Osterman now held the reins of power the

sovereign tsar peter was free to indulge

in his new favorite sport hunting unlike

his great-grandfather Alexei the first

who loved falconry Peter the second

hunted without any expertise or

knowledge it didn't matter to him how or

what he hunted what mattered was riding

fast and making a lot of noise

all this would have been entirely

natural for his age if it hadn't been

for his constant drinking sprees nobody

cared about his health except his sister

Natalia she was the only person who

truly loved the boy Emperor and tried to

stop him drinking but aged just 14

she died of tuberculosis with no one to

stop him Peter began regularly binge

drinking with his guards he was tall and

well-developed for his age and women

were also made available to him Peter

then fell in love with his aunt

Elizabeth daughter of Peter the Great

nobody was going to let Peter marry

Elizabeth first of all the church

prohibited marriages between such close

relatives second even dull guru cough

had already chosen a bride for him his

sister Catherine thus way the Emperor's

decision even provided proof that his

aunt Elizabeth was already in love with

an officer of the guards a hot-headed

teenager felt that Elizabeth had

betrayed him who made a point of turning

his attention to Catherine Dahl guru

kava once more the Tsar found himself

the pawn in other people's games

[Music]

while the court was absorbed in imperial

love matches the vast Russian Empire was

left virtually leaderless state finances

were in chaos the army was

disintegrating Russia's international

standing was in freefall European

ambassadors reported on the situation in

Russia it makes no sense to make an

alliance at this time Tsar thinks only

about his own amusement these officials

think only of how to ruin each other

everybody lives without a care it's

unclear how such a vast state can

maintain itself without any support

Russia's huge bureaucracy had been left

to fend for itself because the body that

was supposed to wield power in Russia

that effectively ceased to function the

Supreme Privy Council had been

established by Katherine the first to

help her rule the Empire or to be more

exact to rule it for her officially it

was only supposed to advise the monarch

but in reality it was now governing

russia during peter ii reign six Nobles

sat on the Supreme Council count gavrila

golovkin the guillotines

Prince Dmitry and Prince Mikhail the

dunkaroo coffs Prince Vasily

Vladimirovich and Vasili lukitch and

Baron Osterman Peter now 14 years old

had no idea about the problems his

country faced and the dagger drew coughs

did everything to keep it that way

the father Prince Alexei using his son

even to keep Peter distracted they

intended to make the Emperor their

puppet and turn the clock back by

undoing all peter the great's

modernizing reforms Peter had already

agreed to stop new naval construction

persuaded it was a waste of money and

moved the capital from San Petersburg

back to Moscow where the hunting was far

superior only a few steps remained

[Music]

in November 1728 the Emperor's

engagement to even sister Princess

Catherine doll guru kava was announced

[Music]

as Catherine arrived at the palace for

the official engagement the carriage

caught under a low gate in front of

guards and onlookers the gilded crown on

the carriage roof was torn off and fell

into the gutter in the weeks leading up

to the wedding

dal-gu Rokoff princes kept the emperor

constantly entertained best he had time

to reconsider his decision

On January 6th thirteen days before the

wedding

Peter went to the traditional blessing

of the Moscow River at the ceremony he

played the part of the chivalrous Knight

standing on the footboard of Princess

Catherine's carriage for hours in

freezing weather

next day he had a burning fever then he

was diagnosed with smallpox

[Music]

smallpox also known by its latin name

very oliveira had been present in europe

at a low level for a thousand years but

in the 18th century higher population

levels and the greater movement of

people across the continent caused it to

spread like wildfire smallpox victims

developed spots on their face and limbs

and the rich both men and women wore

heavy makeup to mask the scars they left

but it was more than just a cosmetic

issue smallpox was a killer in Europe

the virus infected more than half the

population about 80 million people

killing one in six

the Emperor's health had been ruined by

a dissolute lifestyle his fever and

weakened immune system allowed the

smallpox to progress quickly

in just one week it was clear Peter

would not survive

[Music]

dal-gu coughs were in despair

it looked as if all their efforts had

been in vain their grand schemes come to

nothing as the Emperor Lay Dying LeFort

off palace stood empty and silent

decorated for a wedding it would never

take place his dog Iruka friends

meanwhile were desperately looking for a

way to cling to power they decided to

make the emperor sign a will naming his

betrothed the Grand Duchess Catherine

doll guru cava as his successor if they

had succeeded the ruling house of Russia

would have passed from the house of

Romanov to the house of dagger gucoff

but the emperor was not able to sign the

will on January the 18th 1730 the eve of

his planned wedding he suddenly sat up

and ordered his sledge to be harnessed I

want to go and see my sister he said

they were his last words

he died the next day

the Supreme Privy Council reacted with

indignation to the idea of handing the

throne to the dunkaroo coffs the

Romanoff's were the ruling dynasty of

russia if the male line was broken they

would turn to the female line the female

line of the Romanoff's lived on through

the two daughters of Peter the Great

Anna and Elizabeth

they were also three daughters of even

the fifth Peters half-brother and joint

ruler who died young they were Catherine

Anna and plus Kavya Anna had married the

Duke of Holstein

in 1728 she bore him a son Karl Peter

Ulrich but she died soon after

childbirth Catherine had married the

Duke of Mecklenburg and had a

twelve-year-old daughter Elizabeth

Catarina Cristina Anna was the widow of

the Duke of Courland

and had no children Escoffier was

married to general dmitry heft mamonov

council discussed the suitability of the

candidates long into the night

finally at 6:00 a.m. they chose anna

duchess of Courland and daughter of Eve

and the fifth widowed at the age of 17

she lived in Yale Java the Auriga she

had no money and no allies in Moscow

blessed with neither great charm nor

intellect the council believed they

could soon bend her to their will to

avoid any surprises the council prepared

a list of conditions which Anna would

have to sign before sheet of the throne

according to these conditions the

Empress would not have the right to

declare war make treaties introduce new

taxes or spend state revenue make

promotions above the rank of colonel

give out land sentence Nobles to death

get married or appoint her successor all

these powers would reside in the Supreme

Privy Council

the Empress would have control only over

her own income and her palace guards

[Applause]

[Music]

on the morning of January 19 1730

the death of Peter the second was

announced publicly at the same time a

delegation set off from Moscow to see

Anna nine days later she signed the

conditions Russian autocracy had been

abolished in its place oligarchy the

rule of an elite view Anna arrived in

Moscow where she was greeted by her

guards the preobrazhenskiy regiment Anna

declared that she was to be their chief

spoke privately with the officers she

learned many interesting things from

these conversations she was told the

people of Moscow were outraged by the

conditions that had been imposed upon

her and that the Privy Council was

despised by many of the nobles just days

ago anna had been an impoverished

forgotten duchess in out-of-the-way

courland now she was within a stone's

throw of becoming Empress of Russia she

sensed her moment

[Music]

she gathered her guards and senior

Nobles in the palace hall and showed

them what she thought of the conditions

[Music]

chapter 2 Vanna

Ian Avner within a week the Supreme

Privy Council was dismissed within a

month Prince Alexei dal guru Cove and

his son even were exiled to the Siberian

town of berestov where their sworn enemy

Menshikov had died the year before the

day after becoming Empress and are

demanded to see all the items

confiscated from the famously wealthy

menshikov she picked out jewelry for

herself worth twenty three thousand

rubles 138 million today about four

million u.s. dollars she appointed a

Russian architect of Italian parentage

Bartolomeo rest rally to build two new

palaces for her a wooden winter palace

in the Kremlin and a stone summer palace

on the yowser river to help her settle

in

[Music]

anas German Chamberlain and Spearin

followed his mistress to Moscow he was

Anna's favorite and her lover the fact

that he was married with three children

didn't concern her Anna herself was the

secret mother of his youngest son

Karl amst which is why the boy was

brought to Moscow

[Music]

later they were joined by Byron's wife

and elder sons together they formed

Russia's and Orthodox new imperial

family the typical day fat Empress Anna

began at 8 a.m. when she took her coffee

she worked between 9 and 10 receiving

ministers and signing decrees then she

went riding with Viren and at noon she

had lunch with him his wife and children

then she went to bed for an hour rest of

the day was solely for her own amusement

Anna found many unusual ways to

entertain herself one of her favorite

was shooting crows this was why a loaded

musket was left by each of the palace

windows the impressed did you just shoot

Birds she also hunted bears with a spear

but there were also more sophisticated

entertainments at court Italian operas

and theatres in Hanna's reign the first

Russian dance school was founded but

nothing delighted the Empress quite as

much as watching her court jesters and

dwarfs fighting jesters first appeared

in Russia in the reign of Ivan the

Terrible a century later Alexei the

first right to play chess against his

own jester an acrimonious Hunchback

named alpha Tsar Peter the Great's

jesters included a former officer of the

preobrazhenskiy regiment even Bela craf

who advised the Tsar on serious issues

and a Jew who'd converted to

Christianity yonder Costa who debated

theology with the Tsar

the position of court jester flourished

during the reign of empress Anna now

there were more than ever

Ballack rep and Acosta were joined by

the Italian musician Pietro Petrillo and

noblemen who'd been demoted to jesters

Prince Nikita Falcon ski Prince Mikhail

galitsin and count Alexia practising a

troupe of entertainers also featured 10

dwarves one kalmyk woman and two event

women from Russia's easternmost regions

the Empress acquired a taste for exotic

and spectacular parties lavish banquets

masquerades and fireworks the only thing

she frowned on was drinking alcohol had

caused the early death of her young

husband the Duke of Courland after he

had tried to keep pace with Peter the

Great's drinking at their own wedding

celebration

the Empress created a ministerial

cabinet to handle the business of

government it was the Supreme Privy

Council in all but name

just with new faces only the wily Baron

Osterman kept his place

becoming the elder statesman of Anna's

government the Empress herself barely

followed affairs of state but beyond who

now held the title Duke of courland took

an active role in cabinet business one

cabinet minister Artemi velinski wrote

the Empress is a fool it's impossible to

get any decision from her Duke beer on

as he pleases for opposing beer on

velinski was charged with treason and

executed the very thought of a palace

revolution terrified Anna she had peter

the great's daughter elizabeth watched

to look for any hint of conspiracy and

she reestablished the secret Chancellery

of investigations founded by Peter but

abolished by his successor its role was

to sniff out any trace of political

dissent its agents were everywhere and

were rightly feared any careless word

particularly about the Empress could

lead to arrest and inevitably torture in

the course of Anna's 10-year reign

secret Chancellery arrested and tortured

about 28,000 suspects those 20,000 were

exiled to Siberia and Kamchatka 5000

went missing 2,000 died during torture

and more than 1,000 were executed

the Empress was suspicious of her guards

too especially the preobrazhenskiy

regiment they'd put her on the throne

they could depose her too so she created

a second guards regiment his mile off

ski the new regiments officers were

recruited from her native Duchy of

Courland and took over guard duty at the

palace preobrazhenskiy regiment was sent

to fight the Turks at Belgrade in 1739

the treaty was signed to end the

four-year conflict between Russia and

the Ottoman Empire under its terms as

off and parts of Ukraine became part of

Russia but Russian warships and merchant

ships were forbidden from sailing in the

Sea of Azov all the black sea the war

cost the Russian army about 46,000 man

only about six thousand or one in eight

of those men fell in battle the

remaining 40,000 died from disease

starvation and neglect Anna didn't

concern herself with these details she

was glad the war was over but her main

concern was moving the court from Moscow

back to San Petersburg in 1737 Moscow

had been devastated by a great fire the

Kremlin you take her at the surrounding

white town part of the earth town almost

all the modern city centre was burnt to

the ground at the time the great tsar

bell had been standing in the kremlin

foundry the scaffolding around it caught

fire when water was poured onto it a

bell burst from the sudden temperature

change

anas winter palace also burned down but

six months later the Empress was

celebrating her birthday in a new Winter

Palace built for her by Bartolomeo rest

rally in Saint Petersburg the state

apartments consisted of more than 100

rooms all of them decorated in the most

lavish style under Anna's reign

expenditure on the court reached 260

thousand rubles per year worth about 42

million dollars today running costs of

Duke beer on stables were a hundred

thousand rubles about 17 million dollars

while small-scale expenditures by the

Empress totaled forty two and a half

thousand rubles for seven million

dollars incredibly the Empress spent as

much on jewelry as it cost to maintain

the Academy of Sciences about forty

seven thousand rubles great million

dollars just a tenth of that some was

spent on public education a measly four

and a half thousand rubles

Anna's most decadent celebration was

held for the wedding of two of her court

jesters in a palace of ice

on Anna's whim the 53 year old Mikhail

galitsin was to marry a 20 year old

kalmo girl named Abdul shibuya Nineveh

the bill for the party came to 30,000

rubles a house of ice 17 metres long and

3 metres high was built between the

Admiralty and the Winter Palace six ice

cannon and two mortars stood by the

entrance by the gates there were ice

sculptures of elephants and dolphins

while everything inside the house even

the furniture was made of ice before the

wedding

a masked procession passed through the

city streets playing horns and Bal

iliacus it included representatives from

across the Empire Ukrainians from the

south and Nimitz from the far north

bride and groom traveled in a cage

mounted on top of an elephant and after

the wedding were left in the bedroom of

the Ice Palace

[Music]

the French ambassador Marquis de Lucia

tardy was one of the guests

only in this country is there such fun

to be had

the bride and groom were taken to an ice

house it was kept worn with straw the

light that shone in through the ice from

all sides was extraordinary all who saw

it were amazed one of the few not

enjoying themselves was the Empress's

beautiful cousin Princess Elizabeth now

treated with open suspicion

Princess Elizabeth was adored by the

gods she was godmother to their children

and lent some of the money but most

importantly she was peter the great's

daughter

[Music]

her popularity had become a threat to

Anna's plans for the succession Anna

wanted the throne to remain with her

father's line at aviv and the fifth

half-brother and joint ruler with peter

the great

so anna announced that her heir would be

the future son of her 14 year old niece

Elizabeth Katarina Kristina even though

at the time she wasn't even married

Elizabeth took the name anna leopoldovna

after converting to orthodoxy and a20

married the Duke of Brunswick Anton

Ulrich

someone to Russia for that purpose soon

the couple had a son yun Antonovich when

the new heir to the Russian throne was

just two months old in prasanna fell

seriously ill with kidney stones

[Music]

inflammation and infection set in just

two weeks after the first symptoms on

October 17 1740 Anna died

one of her last acts was to sign a

decree appointing a region for the

infant Emperor the Duke of Courland and

spear on

[Music]

Russian people felt no great loss of the

death of Empress Anna her reign would be

remembered for excess frivolity and

cruelty nevertheless it was Anna who

pushed forward the development of San

Petersburg many of its grandest and most

famous buildings including the Peter and

Paul Cathedral the Admiralty with its

high spire and the fountains of the

Peterhof Palace were completed in the

1730's under the supervision of the

Italian architects Rastrelli

and Rosalie Italian musical theater made

its first appearance in Russia while the

Academy of Sciences published a regular

newspaper some Petersburg news as well

as the first Russian scientific journals

elsewhere the foundations of Russian

literature were being laid by poets such

as Tretyakov ski and the young Lomonosov

the Empress herself of course was

interested only in much cruder forms of

entertainment she had neither the

intellect energy nor charisma to be an

effective ruler a position that after

all came to her almost by chance and

within two weeks of her death all the

plans she had laid for her succession

had collapsed like a house of cards

no one was satisfied by the appointment

of Anna's lover and Spearin as regent to

the infant Emperor even the sixth and so

the guards intervened again on the night

of November 9th 1740 Field Marshal Count

von Munich and 80 Guardsmen burst into

the Winter Palace he sealed the exits

and sent his adjutant to find beer on

[Music]

according to the adjutant's report Viren

was sleeping soundly when they arrived

when he was awoken he tried to hide

under the bed but the soldiers dragged

him out he struck out in an effort to

break free but the soldiers answered his

blows with musket butts

he was then stripped naked and tied up

and carried to the guardhouse where he

was loaded into the field marshals

waiting carriage he was carried out past

the very rooms in which Anna's coffin

was still lying by 6 a.m. the palace

coup was over Russia had a new Regent

the infant emperor's mother the 21 year

old anna leopoldovna rumored to be even

less intelligent than her aunt the late

Empress Anna was madly in love with a

Saxon diplomat named Kent lino Russian

Nobles feared they had another biron on

their hands when lino was given the post

of grand Chamberlain he then briefly

returned to Saxony to settle his affairs

at home but before he could return the

Russian throne changed hands once more

Peter the Great's daughter Elizabeth had

finally made her move

many people knew about the plot to put

Elizabeth on the throne who Diaz warned

and are about it every day

she paid little attention until finally

she decided to speak with Elizabeth

herself Elizabeth was her half cousin

once-removed

and ten years her senior meeting warned

Elizabeth that she was suspected she had

to act fast she summoned a few trusted

men donned a gilded breastplate over her

parade uniform and went to the barracks

of the preobrazhenskiy regiment you

remember whose daughter I am she cried

are you ready to die for me guards

responded with loud cheers Elizabeth led

them to the Winter Palace where the

guards also quickly switched their

allegiance

she entered the bedroom of anna

leopoldovna with the words sister it's

time to get up then she went to the

nursery of the infant emperor Yvonne she

ordered her men not to wake him

she took even in her arms kissed him and

said you're not to blame little one

nobody knew what to do with him

Elizabeth left the winter palace with

the child in her arms chapter three

Elizabeth Petrovna little even the sixth

became Russia's man in the iron mask

almost all his short tragic life was

spent in closely guarded confinement

first in ranan burg then in karma gory

and then in solitary confinement in the

shlisselburg fortress where he was held

as a prisoner with no name even spent

seven years in a cell with no natural

light with only the Bible to read at the

age of 24 he was murdered by his guards

during a failed rescue attempt his

parents spent the rest of their lives

under guard in kama gory far to the

north so that no one was ever tempted to

restore their family to the throne in

the aftermath of the palace revolution

even the sixth fate was not yet known

Elizabeth had many important decisions

to make

first she announced that she would

restore the laws and state bodies

established by her father Peter the

Great the Senate resumed its work as a

legislative and judicial body the

ministerial cabinet was dismissed

Elizabeth would learn to keep a close

eye on all her advisors who ensure none

grew too powerful or dared challenge her

authority during her magnificent

coronation Elizabeth became the first

Russian monarch to place the crown upon

her own head a moment rich in symbolism

[Music]

foreigners who'd helped Elizabeth gain

power hoping for special treatment were

disappointed the new Empress wasn't

going to dance to anyone else's tune on

one occasion her agents intercepted a

letter sent by her old friend

the French ambassador Marquis de Chatard

II the smallest matters terrify her

weakness and instability this is the

essence of all the Tsar it's as actions

Markey was sent home within 24 hours

the Empress never forgot who'd really

put her in power the guards now she

entrusted her life to them creating a

special unit to act as her bodyguard

leap company was an elite unit made up

of the 300 grenadiers and 64 officers

that had put Elizabeth on the throne

these men could do virtually whatever

they liked were made for terrible guards

often drinking on duty falling asleep

and even leaving their posts but the

empress excused them anything she

herself was the unit's commanding

officer its officers were her friends

and closest allies including the

brothers Peter and Alexander Suvorov and

her lover Alexei razumovsky Alexei

razumovsky held no political rank at all

but if he'd wanted he could have become

the most influential man in Russia

wielding power did not interest him he

was good-natured and entirely without

ambition

the Empress's happiness was his only

concern the son of a Cossack farmer from

northern Ukraine he had a fine singing

voice and was extremely handsome he

became Elizabeth's constant companion he

was cheerful calm and dependable and

they were devoted to each other

Rosa maaske gave Elizabeth a taste for

Ukrainian cuisine and her cooks prepared

borscht with garlic and dumplings for

her almost every day

the Empress liked to eat well and had

certain peculiar habits for example she

always had a radish with a glass of

vodka ate something fatty late at night

drank a lot of coffee a personal coffee

maker carl severs was obliged to follow

her everywhere to make coffee for her

the Empress adored sweet things too

confectioner's were hired from France

and Italy to create fantastic sculptures

from sugar and sponge like her mother

Catherine the first Elizabeth was a

night owl and stayed up long after the

balls had finished and there was always

the lingering fear of a nighttime palace

coup Elizabeth never slept in the same

room twice and her apartments were

constantly being altered new doors and

windows were cut through the walls

staircases were moved all measures to

create new escape routes and to confuse

any potential conspirators

[Music]

this deep fear was masked by a busy

schedule of court entertainments on

mondays music for dancing on wednesdays

Italian music on Tuesdays and Fridays

theatres Elizabeth loved balls and

masquerades and could happily dance

through the night she liked to devise

her own magical or comical themes for

instance making all the men come dressed

as women the women as men all the guests

would be made to look ridiculous

except Elizabeth herself whose shapely

legs were universally admired the

Empress was a great beauty but hugely

vain her courtiers were expected to pay

her endless compliments while ladies

feared to dress too well in case they

were thought to be competing with her to

ensure she was always the most

magnificently attired Elizabeth would

issue strict rules before a ball

stipulating certain colors or hairstyles

that only she was permitted to wear the

Empress's wardrobe was reported to

include no fewer than 15,000 dresses she

never wore a dress twice and sometimes

changed several times in a single

evening merchants importing expensive

textiles from abroad were obliged to

bring them to the Empress first so she

could select the finest fabrics for

herself

[Music]

the Rococo style was the latest fashion

in Europe which meant frilly shirts for

the men and for the women whalebone

corsets to create tiny waists and huge

skirts supported by Kane who petticoats

fantastically elaborate hairdos were all

the rage

some of them 60 centimetres high and

shaped to resemble fancy hats flower

beds or even ships and windmills small

flasks of water holding live flowers

were sometimes tied into the hair at

night it was recommended to cover such

constructions with a night cap to

prevent lice from crawling in impress

Elizabeth also demanded palaces to equal

anything in Austria or France this is

where the genius of Bartolomeo rest

rally came in the son of a famous

Italian sculptor Rastrelli moved to San

Petersburg as a teenager and his work

soon found favor with the Empress Anna

as senior court architect he was kept on

by Elizabeth and his projects became yet

more daring and grand his designs

included the new Winter Palace Smolny

Cathedral grand Peterhof Palace Anna

Saskia sello palace the cost was

astronomical the Palisades asked his

hello alone cost 1.6 million rubles

equivalent of about 270 million dollars

today this at a time when the Russian

economy was crippled by corruption and a

currency crisis Russians uncertain of

the future had begun to hoard more and

more currency

every year the state increased coin

production but they simply vanished into

the economy there were approximately 54

million coins in circulation but none of

them were circulating many industries

such as the extremely lucrative salt

trade were state sanctioned monopolies

run by influential officials and Friends

of the Empress like Peter Shuvalov

corruption had reached extraordinary

levels almost all of elizabeth's

ministers also received wages from

foreign countries whose taking payments

from foreign governments included the

Chancellor Alexei boss - Jeffrey omen

and the Vice Chancellor me Carver on

Soph it was once said over and soft that

he was on sale to the first bidder

the Empress needed foreign money - word

spread that she was willing to sign

conventions for subsidies these unequal

agreements Russia agreed to enter a war

on one side or another in exchange for

cash payments Russia had become in

effect a state for hire

one thing Elizabeth refused to sign was

any death warrant when she came to power

she'd sworn that she'd have no one

executed and was true to her word an

entire generation of noblemen grew up

without fear of the scaffold slowly but

surely the Russian economy began to

modernize the first banks opened

offering loans at six percent per annum

industry was expanding rapidly Russia

was producing two million pewds or

33,000 tons of cast iron a year half of

which was sold overseas the Russian

population was rising five million and a

quarter of a century

as she aged Elizabeth became

increasingly worried about losing her

looks she sought reassurance in the arms

of a court page 18 years her junior

named Ivan Shuvalov her infatuation with

this handsome youth soon turned to love

a former favorite razumovsky quickly

understood without scandal or acrimony

he quietly withdrew from court the new

favorite was much like the old calm

gentle and good-natured and absolutely

loyal to the Empress he asked for

neither money nor positions however

unlike razumovsky Suvorov was highly

educated he corresponded with the French

philosopher helvetius and was passionate

about improving the state of Russian

education thanks to his influence

Elizabeth authorized the founding of the

Russian Academy of Arts and Moscow

University but the life of the Mary

Empress was not all balls and parties

she had another passion foreign policy

[Music]

in the 1740s the warlike King Frederick

of Prussia was seeking to expand his

realm at the expense of his neighbors

and to establish Prussia as a great

power most of the other European powers

were determined to stop him and formed

themselves into an alliance driving

forces behind the Alliance were Maria

Theresa Empress of Austria Elisabeth

Empress of Russia and Madame pompadour

mistress of the King of France

Frederick famous for his low opinion of

women was nevertheless an intellectual

and a wit who nicknamed the alliance

against him League of the three

petticoats the three women had led their

countries into one of the greatest

conflicts in European history the Seven

Years War Russia joined the fray in 1757

launching an attack on East Prussia

after meeting the Russian army in battle

frederick declared to stop a Russian

soldier you need two bullets one to kill

him another to bring him down

following a decisive victory against the

Prussian army at kunis Dorf Russian

forces took control of Eastern Prussia

the following year 1760 Russian troops

briefly occupied Frederick's capital

Berlin the war seemed to be virtually

won but suddenly inexplicably military

operations were called to a halt

[Music]

on Christmas Eve 1761 Elizabeth had a

sudden sensation that she was dying all

her life the word death had terrified

her but now she was perfectly calm

she made her confession till communion

and bid farewell to relatives and

friends

she gave her last advice to her heir

Peter feodorovich and his wife Catherine

he friends on Christmas Day she died

Elizabeth was laid in her coffin wearing

a silver dress with lace sleeves golden

crown on her head beautiful and serene

as she had been in her youth but those

at the funeral were fixated instead on a

strange behavior of the new emperor

Peter the third he either walked too

slowly or ran laughed or grimaced it was

whispered that he'd already ordered

Russian troops out of Prussia and

offered his idol King Frederick peace

with no demands it didn't seem to matter

to him that thousands of Russian

soldiers would have died in vain there

were soon doubts about the new Emperor's

sanity and what he might do one thing

seemed certain

the endless parties the glamour and

frivolity of Elizabeth's court or a

thing of the past

but some already looked to Peter the

Third's young wife Catherine and

wondered if that glorious age could not

be reclaimed

[Music]

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