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[Music]

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I'm making my first trip to Russia a

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country I've been wanting to visit for

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years because if you're fascinated by

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stories of royalty and royal power

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there's nowhere better than this this is

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Red Square

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it's a vast and diverse place this is

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the huge scary-looking fortress with the

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Kremlin this is an absolutely ginormous

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department store and over there is the

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Cathedral of st. basil Red Square is the

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center of a country that goes all the

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way to China now how do you rule over a

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place that's that enormous and that

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confusing well in Russia for more than

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300 years one family managed to do just

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that

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the Vermont dynasty that's as if in

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Britain the Stuart's had hung on to

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power right into the 20th century

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now I'll be following in the footsteps

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of the Vimanas the most powerful

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monarchs in modern European history it's

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a roll call of extraordinary characters

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Peter the Great the visionary who built

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a navy from nothing ready for attack and

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transformed a country into an empire

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Catherine the Great impressive the

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glittering palaces

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the minor princess from Germany who

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became the mightiest woman in the world

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Alexander the first who led his country

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through its darkest hour he defeated

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Napoleon and took the triumphant Russian

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army all the way to Paris but behind the

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spectacular facades life stories of

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intrigue betrayal scandal even murder

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[Music]

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and for all their efforts to place

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themselves at the forefront of modern

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Europe the Romanovs failed to change a

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system that kept millions of their

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subjects in medieval servitude until it

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was far too late

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when their end came it was astonishingly

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brutal slaughtered by the revolution

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that shook the world to understand the

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end of the Vimanas you need to

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understand their whole story of a royal

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family with unparalleled control over

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their people and you might ask yourself

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what you would have done in their shoes

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with such absolute personal power

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[Music]

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[Applause]

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for anyone who grew up during the Cold

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War it's hard to shake off the image of

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Russia as intimidating and impregnable a

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bona fide East superpower

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under the iron rule of the Kremlin

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[Music]

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images of military might on display in

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Red Square have been seared into our

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minds

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[Music]

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yet the age of the Romanoff's began in a

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power vacuum and in this program we'll

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see how in little more than a century

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this dynasty turned around

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Russia's fortunes

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[Music]

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back in 1613 Russia was leaderless

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there'd been years of Anarchy since the

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previous royal dynasty the viryx /

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collapsed the country was so weakened

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that the Polish army had marched right

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in and occupied the Kremlin once the

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poles had finally been driven out the

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great and good of Russia realized that

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they needed to stop squabbling and unite

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around a leader what they wanted the

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Romans had called a Caesar

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the Germans are Kaiser and in Russian

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Azov they argued for weeks about who it

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should be

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but finally they made their choice the

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only problem was that nobody had asked

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this perspectives our if he actually

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wanted the job

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a high-powered delegation set out from

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Moscow to find their hoped-for leader

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and bring him the good news their number

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included nobles and leading churchmen

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the power brokers of Russia or Muscovy

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as it was also named their journey took

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them more than 200 miles north across

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countryside that was still dangerous and

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largely lawless

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[Music]

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and this was their destination the a

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party of monastery overlooking the

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mighty river Volga

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[Music]

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it was still winter and with no bridge

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back then the delegation had to cross

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the ice to get to the monastery

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sheltering here was the object of the

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delegations quest a 16 year old boy

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called mikail

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Ramallah but although the vermin offs

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were a well-known noble family power was

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the last thing that he wanted

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[Music]

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it said that when trick like Lamar Knopf

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was offered the crown he burst into

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tears he didn't feel equal to accepting

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it and his mother was furious with the

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delegation she said yes no you shouldn't

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have offered my son such a dangerous

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responsibility but the delegation said

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it's not up to us it's not up to you

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it's God who wants you to do this thing

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after several hours of deliberation

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Mikael and his mother caved in they

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accepted

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of course regardless of what God wanted

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other considerations had played a role

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in mikail selection Mikhail Romanov came

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from a well-established noble family the

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family had long dynastic connections

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with the previous dynasty his father

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Filaret was the nephew of the last wife

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of Ivan the Terrible during the election

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of Mikhail Filaret was in Polish

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captivity so different groups in Russian

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society were satisfied with Mikhail's

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position with his social status and at

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the same time they thought it would be

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easy to manipulate him because his

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father who was a very influential figure

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was not around under heavy protection

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mikhail now traveled to his coronation

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in moscow here in a lavish ceremony

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before the massed ranks of russia's

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nobility and churchmen he was given the

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all-important divine seal of approval

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the Kremlin's Cathedral of the

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Assumption this is the Russian

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equivalent of Westminster Abbey all the

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czars and emperors came here for their

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combinations Mikhail Romanov was just

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short of seventeen when he was presented

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with the crown the orb and the scepter

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presumably so a great big sigh of relief

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in the Russian people

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[Applause]

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the coronation conferred absolute power

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on the Sun the different noble families

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and the church were keen to influence

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mikail

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they agreed that a strong leader was

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essential to prevent the kind of chaos

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from which Russia had just emerged more

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than half a century of relative

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stability and reconstruction followed

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under Mikhail and then his successor his

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son Alexis the idea that the Tsar's

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world as part of a divinely ordered

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system helps justify their immense power

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I've come to the Tretyakov gallery in

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Moscow to see an icon from the reign of

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Alexis which features the dark himself

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painted by an influential Russian artist

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C Mon yushik ah've it's called the tree

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at the muscovite state they Philip this

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picture reminds me of Jack and the

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Beanstalk enormous tree growing right

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out of the Cathedral that's planted in

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the middle as the fortress as a Kremlin

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yes and the roots are coma you see this

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one this common root for both church

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power and State Bar they grow together

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they act together a very central idea

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for medieval Russia and here we've got

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the first Archbishop of na state first

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and the first principal planting the

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tree together I'm more interested in who

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yes demonic Alexis or Alec he in Russian

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and as the reason his wife yes two

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children

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where did power really light at this

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point in the 17th century symbolically

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it was hand

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in hand with the civil power but in

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reality of course this civil power was

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much stronger which was not depicted

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here secretly he's the most important

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person you think is important of course

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the political power belonged to the Tsar

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but something else about the painting

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he's very telling for all its beauty by

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Western European standards it looks

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pre-renaissance even by the late 17th

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century foreign visitors considered

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Russia to be almost medieval and not

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just in its art in its religious piety

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beyond the walls of Moscow lay a vast

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sparsely populated backward country

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Russian territory stretched from the

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southern steps to the Arctic

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and thousands of miles east into Siberia

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[Music]

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in the late 17th century Russia was a

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hundred times the area of England and

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Wales but it had less than twice the

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population

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and this overwhelmingly rural country

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was hugely underdeveloped apart from

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churches and fortifications stone

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buildings were virtually unknown in

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Russia peasant Hut's and clothes barely

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changed for hundreds of years at the

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Museum of wood and architecture in

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kostroma they've preserved some examples

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I'm modeling a traditional dress called

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a sour fun wild village life looks

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idyllic on a sunny day for most of the

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year it was quite the opposite

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[Music]

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Russia's climate was notoriously harsh

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imagine trudging along here through the

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mud in the wet all the snow in winter

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but despite the inhospitable terrain the

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majority of Russians right into the 19th

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century had to scratch out a living from

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the land they also had to cope with the

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social reality of serfdom this is a

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practice that was dying out in Western

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Europe but in 17th century Russia it was

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actually on the rise and if he was

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somebody's serf you were effectively

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their property to be bought or sold

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agriculture was the mainstay of Russia's

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economy

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and serfdom guaranteed the landowning

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nobility a captive workforce the

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peasants couldn't just up and leave in

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search of better pay or conditions

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elsewhere serfdom lasted and increased

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in the 17th century simply because it

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was found in the interests of both

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nobles and state to do so the nobles had

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already established that they needed to

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have control over the movement of the

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serfs and to some extent it was in the

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interest of the state as well to keep

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people in one place to tax them to

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control them and to reward the nobility

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for their service

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so serfs were wealth in a way that they

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weren't in the West bodies were wealth

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but towards the end of the 17th century

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it looks like things might change Russia

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gained a new Tsar driven by an obsessive

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desire to modernize the country he was

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convinced that Russia's future depended

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on it looking westwards to Europe hey me

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Peters are great or at least the next

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best thing because this is a super

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accurate wax effigy made just after his

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death and using his actual death mask

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for the face

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these are Peters real clothes and that's

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even his real hair you might be thinking

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it must be larger than life because his

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arms are so freakishly long but no he

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was six and a half feet tall I think he

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looks pretty terrifying and in real life

280
00:15:58,050 --> 00:16:01,790
he was absolutely terrifying

281
00:16:01,790 --> 00:16:04,600
but Peter the Great was Russia's most

282
00:16:04,600 --> 00:16:09,940
farsighted and hardworking sovereign

283
00:16:10,750 --> 00:16:13,910
Peter's ruthlessness was a result of his

284
00:16:13,910 --> 00:16:18,050
traumatic childhood in 1682

285
00:16:18,050 --> 00:16:19,880
his accession to the throne at the age

286
00:16:19,880 --> 00:16:22,460
of nine was followed by a brief but

287
00:16:22,460 --> 00:16:25,600
bloody revolt

288
00:16:25,700 --> 00:16:30,080
a faction at court regarded Peters

289
00:16:30,080 --> 00:16:34,390
half-brother Ivan as the rightful czar

290
00:16:34,390 --> 00:16:37,100
when we must spread the Ivan had been

291
00:16:37,100 --> 00:16:39,980
killed a mob stormed into the Kremlin

292
00:16:39,980 --> 00:16:42,590
and they were led by the Royal Guards

293
00:16:42,590 --> 00:16:48,590
themselves to calm the situation Peter's

294
00:16:48,590 --> 00:16:50,330
mother walked out onto the palace

295
00:16:50,330 --> 00:16:54,440
balcony at the top of this staircase she

296
00:16:54,440 --> 00:16:56,060
was holding hands with both Peter and

297
00:16:56,060 --> 00:16:58,970
Ivan to prove to them all that they were

298
00:16:58,970 --> 00:17:02,210
very much still alive

299
00:17:02,210 --> 00:17:05,510
[Music]

300
00:17:05,510 --> 00:17:08,910
it must have been a terrifying moment

301
00:17:08,910 --> 00:17:11,250
for the little boys for Peter and his

302
00:17:11,250 --> 00:17:13,740
brother but when the rebels saw that

303
00:17:13,740 --> 00:17:16,079
they were still alive everything calmed

304
00:17:16,079 --> 00:17:20,339
down it seemed to work but then a second

305
00:17:20,339 --> 00:17:22,980
wave of violence came sweeping through

306
00:17:22,980 --> 00:17:25,349
the palace the rebels came rushing out

307
00:17:25,349 --> 00:17:27,300
this sir case when they got to the top

308
00:17:27,300 --> 00:17:30,360
they seized the families closest

309
00:17:30,360 --> 00:17:33,060
advisors and leading noblemen and they

310
00:17:33,060 --> 00:17:36,150
threw them down over that balustrade so

311
00:17:36,150 --> 00:17:38,760
they fell and were impaled upon the

312
00:17:38,760 --> 00:17:42,950
spears at the guards below

313
00:17:43,280 --> 00:17:45,660
eventually the rebels agreed a

314
00:17:45,660 --> 00:17:47,820
compromise but not before they'd

315
00:17:47,820 --> 00:17:52,620
slaughtered two of Peters uncle's Peter

316
00:17:52,620 --> 00:17:58,350
was have to wait his revenge the revolts

317
00:17:58,350 --> 00:18:02,340
left Peter with a loathing of Moscow as

318
00:18:02,340 --> 00:18:06,590
soon as he could get away he did

319
00:18:08,390 --> 00:18:24,170
[Music]

320
00:18:24,170 --> 00:18:28,380
this is Lake plush Ava 90 miles north of

321
00:18:28,380 --> 00:18:31,010
the capital

322
00:18:31,080 --> 00:18:34,390
and it's all these waters that the

323
00:18:34,390 --> 00:18:37,230
teenage Peter felt truly at home

324
00:18:37,230 --> 00:18:42,700
[Music]

325
00:18:42,700 --> 00:18:45,259
so where did Peter the Great get his

326
00:18:45,259 --> 00:18:48,399
very own Russian passion for sailing

327
00:18:48,399 --> 00:18:51,679
well he discovered an old boat lying

328
00:18:51,679 --> 00:18:53,749
around on one of the Royal estates near

329
00:18:53,749 --> 00:18:56,840
Moscow but in order to learn how to use

330
00:18:56,840 --> 00:18:59,269
it he had to come up here to the nice

331
00:18:59,269 --> 00:19:01,720
big lake where he who get up some speed

332
00:19:01,720 --> 00:19:04,759
and it was on the waters at this lake

333
00:19:04,759 --> 00:19:07,940
that a new vision of the future of

334
00:19:07,940 --> 00:19:10,549
Russia began to take shape in Peters

335
00:19:10,549 --> 00:19:12,879
mind

336
00:19:17,160 --> 00:19:20,020
Peter took every opportunity to come up

337
00:19:20,020 --> 00:19:20,840
to the lake

338
00:19:20,840 --> 00:19:22,890
[Music]

339
00:19:22,890 --> 00:19:25,500
he employed foreign experts to teach him

340
00:19:25,500 --> 00:19:27,960
not just how to sail the boats but how

341
00:19:27,960 --> 00:19:35,040
to build them this is the only survivor

342
00:19:35,040 --> 00:19:37,650
of peter the great's flotilla of little

343
00:19:37,650 --> 00:19:39,690
boats that he had made here on the

344
00:19:39,690 --> 00:19:42,570
shores of lake cliche ville he and his

345
00:19:42,570 --> 00:19:44,730
friends would go out onto the water and

346
00:19:44,730 --> 00:19:47,510
amuse themselves with mock sea vessels

347
00:19:47,510 --> 00:19:50,850
the small ships became known as Peters

348
00:19:50,850 --> 00:19:54,090
toy Navy but his ambition went much

349
00:19:54,090 --> 00:19:56,250
further than simply messing about with

350
00:19:56,250 --> 00:19:58,230
boats

351
00:19:58,230 --> 00:20:06,659
[Music]

352
00:20:06,659 --> 00:20:10,059
Peter realized that if Russia was to

353
00:20:10,059 --> 00:20:13,090
have prosperity security and influence

354
00:20:13,090 --> 00:20:15,519
in the wider world and he needed to be

355
00:20:15,519 --> 00:20:18,779
powerful at sea

356
00:20:20,150 --> 00:20:22,580
there's a saying that a ruler with an

357
00:20:22,580 --> 00:20:24,980
army has one hand but a ruler with a

358
00:20:24,980 --> 00:20:28,460
Navy has to whether or not this saying

359
00:20:28,460 --> 00:20:30,440
really was coined by Peter the Great

360
00:20:30,440 --> 00:20:34,660
there is no question that he believed it

361
00:20:37,330 --> 00:20:40,010
European powers like the English and the

362
00:20:40,010 --> 00:20:42,320
Dutch were making fortunes from maritime

363
00:20:42,320 --> 00:20:47,480
trade but despite its size Russia was

364
00:20:47,480 --> 00:20:50,270
effectively landlocked it had just the

365
00:20:50,270 --> 00:20:53,090
one proper seaport in the far north and

366
00:20:53,090 --> 00:20:57,340
that was frozen up for half the year

367
00:20:57,370 --> 00:21:00,320
more urgently Russia's two most

368
00:21:00,320 --> 00:21:02,870
threatening neighbours Sweden to the

369
00:21:02,870 --> 00:21:05,030
west and Turkey to the south

370
00:21:05,030 --> 00:21:08,090
both had formidable navies

371
00:21:08,090 --> 00:21:09,880
[Music]

372
00:21:09,880 --> 00:21:13,810
Russia needed a fleet of its own

373
00:21:13,810 --> 00:21:17,980
it needed maritime expertise

374
00:21:17,980 --> 00:21:22,059
it needed a major new seaport that could

375
00:21:22,059 --> 00:21:27,429
be its gateway to the world Peter the

376
00:21:27,429 --> 00:21:30,220
Great made it his mission to get these

377
00:21:30,220 --> 00:21:33,480
things from Russia

378
00:21:35,149 --> 00:21:38,119
and to fulfill that mission he took an

379
00:21:38,119 --> 00:21:49,339
extraordinary step in 1697 at the age of

380
00:21:49,339 --> 00:21:52,519
24 Peter left his kingdom in the hands

381
00:21:52,519 --> 00:21:54,889
of his advisers and set off suspend a

382
00:21:54,889 --> 00:21:58,429
gap year in Europe here he was to study

383
00:21:58,429 --> 00:22:01,009
shipbuilding and the latest developments

384
00:22:01,009 --> 00:22:07,070
in maritime science the journey became

385
00:22:07,070 --> 00:22:12,950
known as Peters grand embassy he spent

386
00:22:12,950 --> 00:22:15,349
several months in Holland working in a

387
00:22:15,349 --> 00:22:17,859
shipyard

388
00:22:19,060 --> 00:22:23,810
[Music]

389
00:22:24,509 --> 00:22:28,360
then early in 1698 Peter and his

390
00:22:28,360 --> 00:22:34,929
entourage pitched up in London and one

391
00:22:34,929 --> 00:22:37,179
of the first places he visited with the

392
00:22:37,179 --> 00:22:50,320
Royal Observatory at Greenwich here at

393
00:22:50,320 --> 00:22:52,210
the observatory Peter the Great was

394
00:22:52,210 --> 00:22:55,259
shown around by John Flamsteed the first

395
00:22:55,259 --> 00:22:58,509
astronomer royal together they looked

396
00:22:58,509 --> 00:23:01,240
for a telescope but the planet of Venus

397
00:23:01,240 --> 00:23:04,509
but this wasn't just sight singing Peter

398
00:23:04,509 --> 00:23:06,610
wanted to check out Britain's first

399
00:23:06,610 --> 00:23:09,460
purpose-built scientific research

400
00:23:09,460 --> 00:23:12,309
facility it's hard to think of a

401
00:23:12,309 --> 00:23:13,840
building that could have appealed to

402
00:23:13,840 --> 00:23:16,659
Peter more it had the express purpose of

403
00:23:16,659 --> 00:23:20,320
using astronomy to improve navigation at

404
00:23:20,320 --> 00:23:22,679
sea

405
00:23:23,390 --> 00:23:30,330
[Music]

406
00:23:30,330 --> 00:23:33,639
over the coming months Peter gorged

407
00:23:33,639 --> 00:23:35,919
himself on the best of English science

408
00:23:35,919 --> 00:23:41,110
and technology he visited the Royal

409
00:23:41,110 --> 00:23:44,019
Society the Royal Mint in the Tower of

410
00:23:44,019 --> 00:23:47,980
London Oxford University and the cannon

411
00:23:47,980 --> 00:23:50,810
foundry at the Woollett char señal

412
00:23:50,810 --> 00:23:52,230
[Music]

413
00:23:52,230 --> 00:23:54,789
during his time in London Peter the

414
00:23:54,789 --> 00:23:56,649
Great stays just around the bend in the

415
00:23:56,649 --> 00:23:59,019
river from Greenwich at Deptford he

416
00:23:59,019 --> 00:24:00,340
liked it there because it was near the

417
00:24:00,340 --> 00:24:03,279
shipyards and he was spotted joining in

418
00:24:03,279 --> 00:24:05,500
the work it was said that the Tsar of

419
00:24:05,500 --> 00:24:08,230
Muscovy works with his own hands as hard

420
00:24:08,230 --> 00:24:11,590
as any man in the yard but Peter wasn't

421
00:24:11,590 --> 00:24:13,629
your regular ship builder he was the

422
00:24:13,629 --> 00:24:15,299
special guest of King William the third

423
00:24:15,299 --> 00:24:18,940
who now gave him a special gift it was

424
00:24:18,940 --> 00:24:21,909
the ultimate boys toy a modern high

425
00:24:21,909 --> 00:24:25,610
speed ship called the royal transport

426
00:24:25,610 --> 00:24:28,169
[Music]

427
00:24:28,169 --> 00:24:31,509
one of several English royal yachts the

428
00:24:31,509 --> 00:24:35,669
ship was a fairly naked bribe

429
00:24:36,420 --> 00:24:38,730
Willie muscle Russia is a lucrative

430
00:24:38,730 --> 00:24:42,330
potential trading partner

431
00:24:42,330 --> 00:24:45,779
[Music]

432
00:24:45,779 --> 00:24:48,100
Peter soon befriended the ship's

433
00:24:48,100 --> 00:24:52,409
designer the Marquess of Kemal van and

434
00:24:52,409 --> 00:24:55,240
this Marcus also shared another

435
00:24:55,240 --> 00:24:59,139
much-loved hobby of the young czars this

436
00:24:59,139 --> 00:25:00,759
man who designed the ship he and Peter

437
00:25:00,759 --> 00:25:02,740
became drinking buddies didn't they

438
00:25:02,740 --> 00:25:04,090
I think they've really found some

439
00:25:04,090 --> 00:25:05,590
kindred spirits in each other they

440
00:25:05,590 --> 00:25:07,210
became very close and spent a lot of

441
00:25:07,210 --> 00:25:09,190
time together during Peters visit and

442
00:25:09,190 --> 00:25:11,649
yes drinking was a big part of that well

443
00:25:11,649 --> 00:25:13,059
I think we know what their favourite

444
00:25:13,059 --> 00:25:16,600
tipple was brandy laced with peppers

445
00:25:16,600 --> 00:25:19,869
that's an interesting idea let's see

446
00:25:19,869 --> 00:25:25,299
what that tastes like probably fair to

447
00:25:25,299 --> 00:25:27,399
say that the English couldn't teach the

448
00:25:27,399 --> 00:25:30,700
Russians much about drinking but at the

449
00:25:30,700 --> 00:25:33,279
same time you'd come Aslan did actually

450
00:25:33,279 --> 00:25:37,419
introduce Peter to this drink so this is

451
00:25:37,419 --> 00:25:39,309
the special drink of the shipbuilders of

452
00:25:39,309 --> 00:25:41,740
Deptford indeed and Peter the Great got

453
00:25:41,740 --> 00:25:44,649
a taste for it yes okay pepper flavored

454
00:25:44,649 --> 00:25:50,049
brandy oh that's foul that's really not

455
00:25:50,049 --> 00:25:51,119
very nice tool

456
00:25:51,119 --> 00:26:02,200
ouu they went Peter and his friends were

457
00:26:02,200 --> 00:26:03,730
in London they were staying in Deptford

458
00:26:03,730 --> 00:26:06,490
on the river they got up to some other

459
00:26:06,490 --> 00:26:08,110
naughty tricks didn't they they

460
00:26:08,110 --> 00:26:09,940
certainly did and they were described by

461
00:26:09,940 --> 00:26:12,100
one of the sails court servants as where

462
00:26:12,100 --> 00:26:13,990
they were staying as being right nasty

463
00:26:13,990 --> 00:26:17,379
in their behavior they basically trashed

464
00:26:17,379 --> 00:26:19,090
the place completely they use the

465
00:26:19,090 --> 00:26:20,919
portraits and paintings as target

466
00:26:20,919 --> 00:26:23,799
practice they burnt all the chairs as

467
00:26:23,799 --> 00:26:25,840
firewood they destroyed the furniture

468
00:26:25,840 --> 00:26:29,919
tore up the beds knocked a hole in the

469
00:26:29,919 --> 00:26:31,539
wall so that Peter could get out to the

470
00:26:31,539 --> 00:26:34,149
get out to the river easily and they

471
00:26:34,149 --> 00:26:35,679
used to went race wheelbarrows with

472
00:26:35,679 --> 00:26:37,559
people inside them through the hedges

473
00:26:37,559 --> 00:26:39,730
it's that because they hadn't seen

474
00:26:39,730 --> 00:26:42,220
wheelbarrows right yes these were

475
00:26:42,220 --> 00:26:46,659
entirely new to Peter is beginning to

476
00:26:46,659 --> 00:26:48,279
sound like he's a complete mass of

477
00:26:48,279 --> 00:26:51,039
contradictions is that fair I think it

478
00:26:51,039 --> 00:26:53,500
is we see on the one hand

479
00:26:53,500 --> 00:26:56,140
his scientific interests and alongside

480
00:26:56,140 --> 00:26:57,430
that he's behaving like a complete

481
00:26:57,430 --> 00:27:00,090
lunatic

482
00:27:00,200 --> 00:27:03,529
during his year in Europe Peter not only

483
00:27:03,529 --> 00:27:06,139
acquired a royal yacht he also purchased

484
00:27:06,139 --> 00:27:09,169
several shiploads of the latest maritime

485
00:27:09,169 --> 00:27:12,500
equipment and who knows maybe a few

486
00:27:12,500 --> 00:27:14,480
wheelbarrows to remind him of good times

487
00:27:14,480 --> 00:27:17,110
in Deptford

488
00:27:17,170 --> 00:27:19,630
he hired European shipbuilders and

489
00:27:19,630 --> 00:27:21,610
sailors to bring their expertise to

490
00:27:21,610 --> 00:27:24,220
Russia and to teach the skills that he

491
00:27:24,220 --> 00:27:26,050
and his retinue had learned for

492
00:27:26,050 --> 00:27:30,670
themselves in Holland and England Peter

493
00:27:30,670 --> 00:27:33,820
also got a feel for life in prosperous

494
00:27:33,820 --> 00:27:37,720
modern European cities he saw how their

495
00:27:37,720 --> 00:27:40,930
citizens behaved where they lived how

496
00:27:40,930 --> 00:27:43,930
they dressed the contrast with his

497
00:27:43,930 --> 00:27:46,300
superstitious conservative homeland

498
00:27:46,300 --> 00:27:51,130
couldn't have been more marked and as if

499
00:27:51,130 --> 00:27:54,730
to underline the point in August 16 98

500
00:27:54,730 --> 00:27:59,580
he was forced to hurry back to Moscow

501
00:28:01,430 --> 00:28:05,980
the palace guards had rebelled again

502
00:28:11,140 --> 00:28:15,140
the revolt was quickly crushed and this

503
00:28:15,140 --> 00:28:17,480
time there were no deals or compromises

504
00:28:17,480 --> 00:28:20,770
Peter was merciless in his retribution

505
00:28:20,770 --> 00:28:23,419
he had more than a thousand of his

506
00:28:23,419 --> 00:28:27,260
guards beheaded or hanged hundreds more

507
00:28:27,260 --> 00:28:31,669
were tortured flogged and banished the

508
00:28:31,669 --> 00:28:33,559
fate of the guards known and Russian as

509
00:28:33,559 --> 00:28:36,289
the Streltsy is depicted in this picture

510
00:28:36,289 --> 00:28:39,620
by Vasily surah kahf one of the great

511
00:28:39,620 --> 00:28:41,570
Russian history painters of the 19th

512
00:28:41,570 --> 00:28:45,860
century this is Red Square on the

513
00:28:45,860 --> 00:28:48,520
morning of the execution of the Streltsy

514
00:28:48,520 --> 00:28:51,080
you know which ones they are because

515
00:28:51,080 --> 00:28:53,799
they have immensely long beards and

516
00:28:53,799 --> 00:28:56,210
they're in their the shirts because

517
00:28:56,210 --> 00:28:58,100
their uniforms have been stripped off

518
00:28:58,100 --> 00:29:02,029
them and each of them is holding a

519
00:29:02,029 --> 00:29:05,240
little candle that's his life that's

520
00:29:05,240 --> 00:29:08,390
about to be snuffed out all the rest of

521
00:29:08,390 --> 00:29:10,279
the people here and there's a huge mass

522
00:29:10,279 --> 00:29:13,940
of humanity as their families he's got

523
00:29:13,940 --> 00:29:17,510
his wife weeping on his lap and that

524
00:29:17,510 --> 00:29:20,149
must be his little boy who's crying on

525
00:29:20,149 --> 00:29:22,640
his knee there's a huge amount of

526
00:29:22,640 --> 00:29:25,460
suffering going on you'd think that

527
00:29:25,460 --> 00:29:28,279
somebody would take pity but no here's

528
00:29:28,279 --> 00:29:31,039
the man in charge Peter the Great and he

529
00:29:31,039 --> 00:29:35,409
is implacable look at him

530
00:29:36,810 --> 00:29:39,870
he's saying this lot are absolutely

531
00:29:39,870 --> 00:29:44,960
going to that gallows in the background

532
00:29:45,410 --> 00:29:49,350
and the reason that Peter is so

533
00:29:49,350 --> 00:29:52,350
determined is that he was once the

534
00:29:52,350 --> 00:29:57,960
weeping little boy himself these are the

535
00:29:57,960 --> 00:30:01,900
men who murdered pieces own uncles

536
00:30:01,900 --> 00:30:04,220
[Music]

537
00:30:04,220 --> 00:30:07,080
but the real message of the picture is

538
00:30:07,080 --> 00:30:09,630
that the Streltsy represent the old

539
00:30:09,630 --> 00:30:13,340
Russia they're messy and dirty and

540
00:30:13,340 --> 00:30:16,410
superstitious and Peter the Great is the

541
00:30:16,410 --> 00:30:19,470
wind of change he's going to sweep them

542
00:30:19,470 --> 00:30:22,190
all away

543
00:30:22,880 --> 00:30:25,860
Peter's next move was to quash any

544
00:30:25,860 --> 00:30:30,030
lingering opposition to his rule he was

545
00:30:30,030 --> 00:30:31,710
convinced that the rebellion had been

546
00:30:31,710 --> 00:30:36,140
orchestrated by his half-sister Sofia

547
00:30:38,780 --> 00:30:43,200
he didn't execute Sofia but he did what

548
00:30:43,200 --> 00:30:47,010
was considered the next best thing he

549
00:30:47,010 --> 00:30:51,480
forced her to become a nun and spend the

550
00:30:51,480 --> 00:30:53,970
rest of her life largely in solitary

551
00:30:53,970 --> 00:30:56,040
confinement here at the novodevichy

552
00:30:56,040 --> 00:31:06,260
convent in Moscow but initially at least

553
00:31:06,260 --> 00:31:09,030
Peter did provide Sofia with some

554
00:31:09,030 --> 00:31:13,140
company he strung up the corpses of the

555
00:31:13,140 --> 00:31:15,960
Streltsy rebels right outside her

556
00:31:15,960 --> 00:31:18,470
windows

557
00:31:18,930 --> 00:31:22,150
Peter now turned to the Moscow elites

558
00:31:22,150 --> 00:31:24,400
these were the same class of people who

559
00:31:24,400 --> 00:31:26,740
put the Romanoff's on the flow nearly 90

560
00:31:26,740 --> 00:31:29,920
years before but Peter considered them

561
00:31:29,920 --> 00:31:33,400
to be reactionary and lazy it was time

562
00:31:33,400 --> 00:31:35,760
they caught up with the present day

563
00:31:35,760 --> 00:31:38,800
Peter decided that the best way to make

564
00:31:38,800 --> 00:31:41,470
them behave like modern Europeans was to

565
00:31:41,470 --> 00:31:45,000
make them look like modern Europeans

566
00:31:45,000 --> 00:31:49,450
good isn't it it's Irish bit furry but

567
00:31:49,450 --> 00:31:58,150
velvety - very nice to see just how

568
00:31:58,150 --> 00:32:01,000
revolutionary this was I've come to the

569
00:32:01,000 --> 00:32:07,450
famous mosfilm studios in Moscow many a

570
00:32:07,450 --> 00:32:09,870
historical epic has been filmed here and

571
00:32:09,870 --> 00:32:12,670
while I admire the vast costume

572
00:32:12,670 --> 00:32:15,400
department our translator Misha has

573
00:32:15,400 --> 00:32:17,590
volunteered to model some traditional

574
00:32:17,590 --> 00:32:20,800
Russian clothes to show what Peter's new

575
00:32:20,800 --> 00:32:24,580
rules on dress actually meant Misha

576
00:32:24,580 --> 00:32:26,110
you've been quite a long time in there

577
00:32:26,110 --> 00:32:33,750
are you ready oh look at you come out

578
00:32:33,780 --> 00:32:37,180
you look like a lovely little Tsar well

579
00:32:37,180 --> 00:32:39,040
you're dressed for the 17th century

580
00:32:39,040 --> 00:32:41,410
you're warm for the Moscow winters I

581
00:32:41,410 --> 00:32:45,160
guess and is it practical can you move a

582
00:32:45,160 --> 00:32:46,840
bath in this one well of course it's

583
00:32:46,840 --> 00:32:48,340
practical because this is how people

584
00:32:48,340 --> 00:32:51,340
were dressed yes and it also is a little

585
00:32:51,340 --> 00:32:53,770
bit not really European let's see your

586
00:32:53,770 --> 00:33:00,400
bits may be somewhat oriental sexy yes

587
00:33:00,400 --> 00:33:02,020
you do have a touch that the audience

588
00:33:02,020 --> 00:33:04,180
about you I would say oh I would say

589
00:33:04,180 --> 00:33:06,690
it's old Russians old Russian style yes

590
00:33:06,690 --> 00:33:09,520
oriental it would have some influence of

591
00:33:09,520 --> 00:33:12,280
the Orient just like a lot of old

592
00:33:12,280 --> 00:33:14,230
Russian architecture for example does

593
00:33:14,230 --> 00:33:16,270
yeah so the clothing also may reflect

594
00:33:16,270 --> 00:33:18,940
that yes yes so along comes Peter the

595
00:33:18,940 --> 00:33:20,500
Great at the end of the 17th century and

596
00:33:20,500 --> 00:33:22,210
he doesn't want to see his subjects just

597
00:33:22,210 --> 00:33:23,590
like this anymore he wants to see them

598
00:33:23,590 --> 00:33:24,820
as Europeans absolu

599
00:33:24,820 --> 00:33:26,919
and the first thing to go I'm sorry to

600
00:33:26,919 --> 00:33:33,009
say is don't because the beer every old

601
00:33:33,009 --> 00:33:36,880
Russian sacred thing it's a very

602
00:33:36,880 --> 00:33:40,330
religious thing and the people in those

603
00:33:40,330 --> 00:33:43,509
days said that the man without the beard

604
00:33:43,509 --> 00:33:45,880
is naked but Peter the Great he'd been

605
00:33:45,880 --> 00:33:47,169
to Europe he'd seen all of these

606
00:33:47,169 --> 00:33:49,450
clean-shaven people and he thought it

607
00:33:49,450 --> 00:33:50,889
was very important that his subjects

608
00:33:50,889 --> 00:33:53,320
should lose the beard so there's stories

609
00:33:53,320 --> 00:33:55,210
of him ripping them out by the roots is

610
00:33:55,210 --> 00:33:56,830
this possible well you can try of course

611
00:33:56,830 --> 00:33:59,320
but he wouldn't just get hurt you

612
00:33:59,320 --> 00:34:01,450
he wouldn't rip them off but he cut them

613
00:34:01,450 --> 00:34:02,740
with the next that's what the legend

614
00:34:02,740 --> 00:34:05,230
says now I actually did the secret of

615
00:34:05,230 --> 00:34:07,870
getting your beard off you are you ready

616
00:34:07,870 --> 00:34:10,659
for this Misha I don't know come on take

617
00:34:10,659 --> 00:34:28,239
it I am afraid now we've Europeanized

618
00:34:28,239 --> 00:34:30,339
your facial hair Peter the Great would

619
00:34:30,339 --> 00:34:31,869
also have wanted to change your clothes

620
00:34:31,869 --> 00:34:34,060
wouldn't he yeah he didn't stop with the

621
00:34:34,060 --> 00:34:37,510
beards just he run the full way go on

622
00:34:37,510 --> 00:34:39,559
like it's your cubicle

623
00:34:39,559 --> 00:34:51,289
Oh fantastic

624
00:34:51,289 --> 00:34:54,679
so here you are all Europeans up now it

625
00:34:54,679 --> 00:34:56,059
strikes me that your shoes are better

626
00:34:56,059 --> 00:34:58,099
for dancing but not so good for walking

627
00:34:58,099 --> 00:35:01,849
across a snowy plain absolutely right

628
00:35:01,849 --> 00:35:04,699
for snow this is horrible

629
00:35:04,699 --> 00:35:07,309
I would freeze my feet off and how you

630
00:35:07,309 --> 00:35:09,559
feeling about it is a Russian nobleman I

631
00:35:09,559 --> 00:35:12,049
for one am extremely unhappy because I

632
00:35:12,049 --> 00:35:14,749
was used to my warm good Russian clothes

633
00:35:14,749 --> 00:35:17,689
yes where I can wander around in the

634
00:35:17,689 --> 00:35:20,059
snow in the snow without doing a single

635
00:35:20,059 --> 00:35:22,910
thing just direct my hundreds of

636
00:35:22,910 --> 00:35:25,279
thousands of serfs and do nothing and

637
00:35:25,279 --> 00:35:27,259
are you feeling a bit drafty in the

638
00:35:27,259 --> 00:35:30,049
Chindi purposely naked Lucy what what

639
00:35:30,049 --> 00:35:33,289
can you do about this is a early 18th

640
00:35:33,289 --> 00:35:35,660
century nobleman well the thing is that

641
00:35:35,660 --> 00:35:38,749
the nobleman had really no choice the

642
00:35:38,749 --> 00:35:41,420
clergy and the people in the fields the

643
00:35:41,420 --> 00:35:42,799
peasants as they were called at the time

644
00:35:42,799 --> 00:35:45,679
they continued having beards they could

645
00:35:45,679 --> 00:35:49,969
actually pay for their beards and there

646
00:35:49,969 --> 00:35:53,239
is a little token here and it shows that

647
00:35:53,239 --> 00:35:56,809
I have paid or whoever paid a beard tax

648
00:35:56,809 --> 00:35:59,809
and once you wear it around your neck to

649
00:35:59,809 --> 00:36:01,969
show that you have paid for it you can

650
00:36:01,969 --> 00:36:05,660
have your proud Russian beard tiny

651
00:36:05,660 --> 00:36:07,640
little beard on it look at that

652
00:36:07,640 --> 00:36:11,179
I think that's there's something that's

653
00:36:11,179 --> 00:36:12,859
I owe you as you're clearly a beard

654
00:36:12,859 --> 00:36:18,199
taxpayer you can have your beard back oh

655
00:36:18,199 --> 00:36:21,289
thank you thank you so much enjoy your

656
00:36:21,289 --> 00:36:21,949
facial hair

657
00:36:21,949 --> 00:36:24,699
dosvedanya

658
00:36:28,210 --> 00:36:33,350
[Music]

659
00:36:33,350 --> 00:36:37,280
and all this applied to the ladies -

660
00:36:37,280 --> 00:36:39,570
well though they're said to have enjoyed

661
00:36:39,570 --> 00:36:41,790
wearing their elegant European dresses

662
00:36:41,790 --> 00:36:44,110
far more than the men did

663
00:36:44,110 --> 00:36:47,360
[Music]

664
00:36:47,520 --> 00:36:50,619
Peters assault on the traditions of old

665
00:36:50,619 --> 00:36:54,099
Moscow left the capital reeling but the

666
00:36:54,099 --> 00:36:56,290
Tsar was already planning what was to be

667
00:36:56,290 --> 00:37:02,260
his boldest move yet in 1703 Peter

668
00:37:02,260 --> 00:37:06,780
packed up and left Moscow once again

669
00:37:08,340 --> 00:37:11,440
dear passengers please prepare your

670
00:37:11,440 --> 00:37:13,660
tickets to be checked and listen to the

671
00:37:13,660 --> 00:37:17,310
information announcements

672
00:37:18,510 --> 00:37:21,960
[Music]

673
00:37:21,960 --> 00:37:24,790
Peter was leading a military expedition

674
00:37:24,790 --> 00:37:27,940
west towards the Gulf of Finland the

675
00:37:27,940 --> 00:37:31,800
Gateway to the Baltic Sea

676
00:37:32,460 --> 00:37:34,860
on the high-speeds trade and it takes me

677
00:37:34,860 --> 00:37:37,740
less than four hours on horseback though

678
00:37:37,740 --> 00:37:41,180
it took Peter weeks

679
00:37:44,180 --> 00:37:47,670
he was venturing into barely chartered

680
00:37:47,670 --> 00:37:50,609
territory swamplands were just a few

681
00:37:50,609 --> 00:37:56,730
isolated fishing settlements most

682
00:37:56,730 --> 00:37:59,040
dangerously of all this was land claimed

683
00:37:59,040 --> 00:38:01,800
by Sweden the most powerful country in

684
00:38:01,800 --> 00:38:07,590
the Baltic region it was when Peter

685
00:38:07,590 --> 00:38:10,290
reached the banks of the neva river that

686
00:38:10,290 --> 00:38:12,599
the objective of the exercise became

687
00:38:12,599 --> 00:38:20,790
clear Peter had found his gateway to the

688
00:38:20,790 --> 00:38:24,570
sea the ground zero of a new maritime

689
00:38:24,570 --> 00:38:29,040
Russia legend has it that this is pretty

690
00:38:29,040 --> 00:38:31,410
much the exact spot where Peter the

691
00:38:31,410 --> 00:38:33,510
Great got off his horse and declared

692
00:38:33,510 --> 00:38:37,710
here will be a city luckily there was

693
00:38:37,710 --> 00:38:40,470
even an eagle hovering over his head as

694
00:38:40,470 --> 00:38:42,450
he spoke to make it even more like an

695
00:38:42,450 --> 00:38:46,109
epic Bible story and Peter did have

696
00:38:46,109 --> 00:38:49,800
Pharoah like powers over his subjects he

697
00:38:49,800 --> 00:38:51,839
was able to bend his serfs

698
00:38:51,839 --> 00:38:54,630
his nobles and even nature to his will

699
00:38:54,630 --> 00:38:58,260
and so with frightening speed what had

700
00:38:58,260 --> 00:39:01,530
been a mosquito ridden marshland over

701
00:39:01,530 --> 00:39:06,530
there was turned into this great city

702
00:39:10,080 --> 00:39:13,210
[Music]

703
00:39:14,530 --> 00:39:18,550
Peter christened his city st. Petersburg

704
00:39:18,550 --> 00:39:21,110
and it would become the home of the

705
00:39:21,110 --> 00:39:23,810
Romanov dynasty eclipsing Moscow for

706
00:39:23,810 --> 00:39:28,610
more than two centuries the first

707
00:39:28,610 --> 00:39:30,950
building Peter constructed was the Peter

708
00:39:30,950 --> 00:39:35,510
and Paul Fortress st. Petersburg began

709
00:39:35,510 --> 00:39:38,570
as a military base because Peter had

710
00:39:38,570 --> 00:39:43,910
declared war on Sweden the timing seemed

711
00:39:43,910 --> 00:39:49,250
right Sweden had a new and teenage King

712
00:39:49,250 --> 00:39:52,370
Charles the 12th and Peter hopes to take

713
00:39:52,370 --> 00:39:54,770
advantage of Charles's inexperience to

714
00:39:54,770 --> 00:39:59,410
establish Russia as a Baltic power I

715
00:40:00,190 --> 00:40:02,780
think there was the thought that the

716
00:40:02,780 --> 00:40:04,610
young Charles the 12th might prove an

717
00:40:04,610 --> 00:40:05,870
easier target

718
00:40:05,870 --> 00:40:08,900
then his more celebrated ancestors had

719
00:40:08,900 --> 00:40:10,940
done but it was still quite a risky

720
00:40:10,940 --> 00:40:13,460
project to take on there was no sense

721
00:40:13,460 --> 00:40:14,870
that Sweden was in any sense of

722
00:40:14,870 --> 00:40:16,880
declining power and of course behind

723
00:40:16,880 --> 00:40:19,130
Sweden this was the crucial Swedish

724
00:40:19,130 --> 00:40:21,680
advantage lay the diplomatic power of

725
00:40:21,680 --> 00:40:22,670
louis xiv

726
00:40:22,670 --> 00:40:24,860
the greatest international power of all

727
00:40:24,860 --> 00:40:27,410
the Swedes were French clients in

728
00:40:27,410 --> 00:40:29,570
diplomacy so it was certainly risky to

729
00:40:29,570 --> 00:40:30,990
try anything on

730
00:40:30,990 --> 00:40:33,280
[Music]

731
00:40:33,280 --> 00:40:36,610
war with Sweden gave Peter the excuse to

732
00:40:36,610 --> 00:40:38,830
fulfill perhaps the longest held of all

733
00:40:38,830 --> 00:40:42,790
his dreams with it's easy access to the

734
00:40:42,790 --> 00:40:45,220
Baltic Sea st. Petersburg became the

735
00:40:45,220 --> 00:40:48,760
base for Peters next grand project the

736
00:40:48,760 --> 00:40:57,760
building of a navy hello are you captain

737
00:40:57,760 --> 00:41:01,570
Vladimir hello welcome on under ah thank

738
00:41:01,570 --> 00:41:07,840
you a fine ship the standard please come

739
00:41:07,840 --> 00:41:10,480
on Bertha let's have a look

740
00:41:10,480 --> 00:41:14,220
guns can swoops

741
00:41:17,390 --> 00:41:20,240
this is a replica of piece of The Grapes

742
00:41:20,240 --> 00:41:24,160
flagship frigate his pride and joy the

743
00:41:24,160 --> 00:41:27,160
standards

744
00:41:27,559 --> 00:41:30,319
Peter sailed in the 1703 original

745
00:41:30,319 --> 00:41:32,809
himself it was modeled on the royal

746
00:41:32,809 --> 00:41:35,449
transport the English ship he was given

747
00:41:35,449 --> 00:41:38,109
by William the third

748
00:41:39,080 --> 00:41:42,640
standby for departure

749
00:41:43,450 --> 00:41:44,700
[Music]

750
00:41:44,700 --> 00:41:46,980
the standard was the biggest of ten

751
00:41:46,980 --> 00:41:49,290
ships the PETA managed to build in just

752
00:41:49,290 --> 00:41:52,339
five months

753
00:41:52,640 --> 00:41:56,220
as the war with Sweden escalated the

754
00:41:56,220 --> 00:41:58,290
fleet had to be constructed at breakneck

755
00:41:58,290 --> 00:42:00,560
speed

756
00:42:00,560 --> 00:42:05,510
[Music]

757
00:42:05,510 --> 00:42:09,290
what's the word for fantastic first

758
00:42:09,290 --> 00:42:12,290
fantastic

759
00:42:20,290 --> 00:42:22,690
now Peters time in the shipyards of

760
00:42:22,690 --> 00:42:26,260
Amsterdam and London really paid off he

761
00:42:26,260 --> 00:42:27,940
set his imported Dutch and English

762
00:42:27,940 --> 00:42:31,090
experts to work alongside Russians who'd

763
00:42:31,090 --> 00:42:32,770
learnt shipbuilding during the grand

764
00:42:32,770 --> 00:42:35,610
embassy

765
00:42:37,270 --> 00:42:40,090
above all it was probably Peters own

766
00:42:40,090 --> 00:42:43,000
hands-on involvement that ensured the

767
00:42:43,000 --> 00:42:46,840
standard was completed so quickly it's

768
00:42:46,840 --> 00:42:47,200
now

769
00:42:47,200 --> 00:42:53,260
yes captain Vladimir Peters new and

770
00:42:53,260 --> 00:42:56,380
untested Navy would be like David taking

771
00:42:56,380 --> 00:43:00,190
on the Swedish Goliath the standard had

772
00:43:00,190 --> 00:43:02,770
been more powerful and more maneuverable

773
00:43:02,770 --> 00:43:07,020
than anything the Swedes could muster

774
00:43:10,260 --> 00:43:14,050
captain Vladimir in 1703 when the

775
00:43:14,050 --> 00:43:15,850
standard was completed was she a very

776
00:43:15,850 --> 00:43:18,610
state-of-the-art vessel for that time

777
00:43:18,610 --> 00:43:20,500
the steering wheel was the kind of

778
00:43:20,500 --> 00:43:23,500
technological innovation very advanced

779
00:43:23,500 --> 00:43:26,130
the steering milk come on the stage in

780
00:43:26,130 --> 00:43:30,340
1717 zero one and a 1303 the Russian

781
00:43:30,340 --> 00:43:31,900
fleet was equipped with steering there

782
00:43:31,900 --> 00:43:34,960
which make ships very maneuverable and

783
00:43:34,960 --> 00:43:36,850
very well controlled so that was

784
00:43:36,850 --> 00:43:39,940
something very special and artillery the

785
00:43:39,940 --> 00:43:41,680
cannons were very powerful that was six

786
00:43:41,680 --> 00:43:44,230
pounders and for the ship of that size

787
00:43:44,230 --> 00:43:45,910
that is quite powerful

788
00:43:45,910 --> 00:43:50,410
yes what was it like then when Peter the

789
00:43:50,410 --> 00:43:52,510
Great and his crew was sailing who would

790
00:43:52,510 --> 00:43:55,030
be here what would be happening 150

791
00:43:55,030 --> 00:43:58,900
people 28 cannons four-person air cannon

792
00:43:58,900 --> 00:44:01,420
so they would be standing by next to the

793
00:44:01,420 --> 00:44:03,490
cannons yes and the sailors they would

794
00:44:03,490 --> 00:44:06,490
have to create all sails at once so in

795
00:44:06,490 --> 00:44:08,710
battle during the maneuvers to say

796
00:44:08,710 --> 00:44:11,140
sailors would be standing by on lines

797
00:44:11,140 --> 00:44:13,060
for bracing the yards for hoisting sails

798
00:44:13,060 --> 00:44:15,720
forsaking sails

799
00:44:17,690 --> 00:44:20,120
Peter was gambling that his new ships

800
00:44:20,120 --> 00:44:22,010
and their crews would get the Swedes and

801
00:44:22,010 --> 00:44:29,120
Nazi supplies and they did the standard

802
00:44:29,120 --> 00:44:32,060
soon saw action exchanging fire with

803
00:44:32,060 --> 00:44:34,820
Swedish warships while defending

804
00:44:34,820 --> 00:44:38,150
Kronstadt the Russian naval base in the

805
00:44:38,150 --> 00:44:41,330
Gulf of Finland over the next six years

806
00:44:41,330 --> 00:44:43,310
in what became known as the great

807
00:44:43,310 --> 00:44:46,940
northern war Peter used sea and land

808
00:44:46,940 --> 00:44:49,220
forces to consolidate his position in

809
00:44:49,220 --> 00:44:51,560
the Baltic region and on several

810
00:44:51,560 --> 00:44:54,200
occasions he led his own men into battle

811
00:44:54,200 --> 00:45:01,970
you admire him he's my hero and that is

812
00:45:01,970 --> 00:45:03,650
because he was thinking more about the

813
00:45:03,650 --> 00:45:07,430
country and about himself his own wealth

814
00:45:07,430 --> 00:45:11,630
was not that important his life has a

815
00:45:11,630 --> 00:45:16,570
really clear target Golan

816
00:45:16,910 --> 00:45:20,269
the great northern war dragged on for

817
00:45:20,269 --> 00:45:24,049
two decades and in the early earth peter

818
00:45:24,049 --> 00:45:28,309
was sorely tested Charles the 12th of

819
00:45:28,309 --> 00:45:30,829
Sweden may have been young but he proved

820
00:45:30,829 --> 00:45:34,920
to be a formidable military commander

821
00:45:34,920 --> 00:45:38,549
Charles was preoccupied with war war was

822
00:45:38,549 --> 00:45:40,799
his main passion

823
00:45:40,799 --> 00:45:42,930
Peter was also very interested in war

824
00:45:42,930 --> 00:45:44,819
and there is an argument that all

825
00:45:44,819 --> 00:45:47,579
reforms initiated by Peter were actually

826
00:45:47,579 --> 00:45:50,670
dictated by his interest in war so we

827
00:45:50,670 --> 00:45:53,490
have two figures who had very strong

828
00:45:53,490 --> 00:45:56,250
interest in war very deep sense of

829
00:45:56,250 --> 00:45:59,250
involvement in international affairs so

830
00:45:59,250 --> 00:46:03,260
the conflict was unavoidable

831
00:46:06,190 --> 00:46:09,410
despite the length of the war Peters

832
00:46:09,410 --> 00:46:11,869
decisive battle with Charles came as

833
00:46:11,869 --> 00:46:16,309
early as 1709 and it wasn't as see it

834
00:46:16,309 --> 00:46:19,430
was hundreds of miles inland at Poltava

835
00:46:19,430 --> 00:46:25,460
in the ukraine the viciousness of the

836
00:46:25,460 --> 00:46:28,640
battle is captured in this 18th century

837
00:46:28,640 --> 00:46:32,299
mural in Saint Petersburg as you get

838
00:46:32,299 --> 00:46:35,920
closer you realized that it's a mosaic

839
00:46:35,920 --> 00:46:39,200
it was painstakingly assembled from

840
00:46:39,200 --> 00:46:41,450
thousands of tiny pieces of stained

841
00:46:41,450 --> 00:46:44,599
glass by an artist and scientist called

842
00:46:44,599 --> 00:46:47,410
Mikhail Lomonosov

843
00:46:52,299 --> 00:46:54,529
here is Peter the Great

844
00:46:54,529 --> 00:46:56,569
with his very distinctive mullet haircut

845
00:46:56,569 --> 00:46:59,569
and he's got his sword out ready to cut

846
00:46:59,569 --> 00:47:01,460
the heads off some Swedes and he's

847
00:47:01,460 --> 00:47:04,220
leading the troops in person as he did

848
00:47:04,220 --> 00:47:09,099
in 1709 the leader at the other side is

849
00:47:09,099 --> 00:47:12,559
King Charles the 12th of Sweden up there

850
00:47:12,559 --> 00:47:14,690
he's writing in a sedan chair because

851
00:47:14,690 --> 00:47:18,049
he'd hurt his foot before the battle you

852
00:47:18,049 --> 00:47:19,940
might also notice that he's much much

853
00:47:19,940 --> 00:47:22,369
much smaller than Peter the Great in

854
00:47:22,369 --> 00:47:27,589
this image and in this little scene a

855
00:47:27,589 --> 00:47:30,499
bloodthirsty Russian showing his white

856
00:47:30,499 --> 00:47:33,619
teeth is about to skewer this poor Swede

857
00:47:33,619 --> 00:47:37,430
with his sword it was a decisive victory

858
00:47:37,430 --> 00:47:40,309
for the Russians but not just because of

859
00:47:40,309 --> 00:47:42,859
their bravery they also completely

860
00:47:42,859 --> 00:47:44,670
outnumbered the Swedes

861
00:47:44,670 --> 00:47:47,900
[Applause]

862
00:47:50,910 --> 00:47:52,700
[Applause]

863
00:47:52,700 --> 00:47:55,590
Poltava was a pivotal battle for PETA's

864
00:47:55,590 --> 00:47:57,660
our great because it allowed Russia to

865
00:47:57,660 --> 00:48:00,510
overtake Sweden to become the dominant

866
00:48:00,510 --> 00:48:04,820
power in Baltic Europe

867
00:48:06,180 --> 00:48:09,089
the security of st. Petersburg was now

868
00:48:09,089 --> 00:48:13,890
assured and in 1712 just three years

869
00:48:13,890 --> 00:48:17,099
after his victory at Poltava Peter made

870
00:48:17,099 --> 00:48:21,750
st. Petersburg the new capital of Russia

871
00:48:21,750 --> 00:48:24,260
[Music]

872
00:48:24,260 --> 00:48:27,420
the city had grown rapidly in its first

873
00:48:27,420 --> 00:48:30,809
decade large numbers of nobles and

874
00:48:30,809 --> 00:48:33,270
wealthy citizens had relocated there for

875
00:48:33,270 --> 00:48:36,390
Moscow not out of choice Peter had

876
00:48:36,390 --> 00:48:44,250
demanded it with its canals and stone

877
00:48:44,250 --> 00:48:47,750
buildings resembling Venice or Amsterdam

878
00:48:47,750 --> 00:48:50,460
st. Petersburg presented foreign

879
00:48:50,460 --> 00:48:53,510
visitors with Peter's vision of a modern

880
00:48:53,510 --> 00:48:57,059
European eyes drush ax1 full of fiving

881
00:48:57,059 --> 00:49:05,039
Commerce and rational order but the

882
00:49:05,039 --> 00:49:07,619
great irony was that the city only

883
00:49:07,619 --> 00:49:10,430
existed because of Peters autocratic and

884
00:49:10,430 --> 00:49:14,069
despotic powers and because of the

885
00:49:14,069 --> 00:49:16,799
medieval institution of serfdom which he

886
00:49:16,799 --> 00:49:20,809
actually reinforced

887
00:49:22,240 --> 00:49:25,460
thousands of serfs and forced laborers

888
00:49:25,460 --> 00:49:27,740
perished while constructing his new

889
00:49:27,740 --> 00:49:31,850
capital it famously said of course this

890
00:49:31,850 --> 00:49:34,220
in Petersburg was a city built on human

891
00:49:34,220 --> 00:49:34,760
bones

892
00:49:34,760 --> 00:49:36,830
and there's no doubt that it was an

893
00:49:36,830 --> 00:49:39,680
extraordinary business to get it off the

894
00:49:39,680 --> 00:49:41,420
ground because most of the ground was

895
00:49:41,420 --> 00:49:43,190
totally unsuitable for building on it

896
00:49:43,190 --> 00:49:47,270
it's a swamp the the climate is very

897
00:49:47,270 --> 00:49:50,869
severe the ground is very damp so a vast

898
00:49:50,869 --> 00:49:53,270
effort had to be put in by the state by

899
00:49:53,270 --> 00:49:56,270
the troops and by the state peasantry in

900
00:49:56,270 --> 00:49:58,490
order to achieve what Peter wanted to

901
00:49:58,490 --> 00:50:01,850
achieve in Petersburg was built of

902
00:50:01,850 --> 00:50:04,640
enormous human cost so much so that it's

903
00:50:04,640 --> 00:50:06,710
almost obscene to discuss whether it was

904
00:50:06,710 --> 00:50:09,020
worth it or not we don't know how many

905
00:50:09,020 --> 00:50:11,420
people died it could have been up to a

906
00:50:11,420 --> 00:50:13,970
hundred thousand what we do know is that

907
00:50:13,970 --> 00:50:16,280
every year forty thousand peasants were

908
00:50:16,280 --> 00:50:18,650
conscripted to work on st. Petersburg

909
00:50:18,650 --> 00:50:20,330
now some of them may not have arrived

910
00:50:20,330 --> 00:50:22,550
they may have fled before they got there

911
00:50:22,550 --> 00:50:23,810
they have may have fled into the forest

912
00:50:23,810 --> 00:50:26,150
once they're in st. Petersburg but the

913
00:50:26,150 --> 00:50:28,130
population of the city itself rose very

914
00:50:28,130 --> 00:50:30,320
slowly so I think we have to assume that

915
00:50:30,320 --> 00:50:37,910
many of those peasants died Peters

916
00:50:37,910 --> 00:50:40,580
ruthlessness didn't stop at the palace

917
00:50:40,580 --> 00:50:42,880
gates

918
00:50:44,020 --> 00:50:46,930
when he got bored of his first wife f

919
00:50:46,930 --> 00:50:49,750
dukhia he packed her off to the convent

920
00:50:49,750 --> 00:50:58,330
in Moscow with a love of hard drinking

921
00:50:58,330 --> 00:51:01,180
and dwarf entertainers F do Kia's

922
00:51:01,180 --> 00:51:03,790
replacement Catherine was far more to

923
00:51:03,790 --> 00:51:12,070
Peter's taste Peters eldest son and his

924
00:51:12,070 --> 00:51:15,010
putative successor Alexei presented a

925
00:51:15,010 --> 00:51:19,330
more intractable problem now in his

926
00:51:19,330 --> 00:51:23,130
twenties Alexei seemed incapable of and

927
00:51:23,130 --> 00:51:25,240
uninterested in following in his

928
00:51:25,240 --> 00:51:27,900
father's footsteps

929
00:51:31,720 --> 00:51:33,960
[Music]

930
00:51:33,960 --> 00:51:36,790
Peter was willing to give Alexey one

931
00:51:36,790 --> 00:51:38,200
last chance

932
00:51:38,200 --> 00:51:39,730
he wrote him a letter full of

933
00:51:39,730 --> 00:51:42,310
admonitions telling Alexi to get his

934
00:51:42,310 --> 00:51:45,100
acts together and if Alexi failed

935
00:51:45,100 --> 00:51:47,500
well then Peter had a threat to make I

936
00:51:47,500 --> 00:51:50,740
will cut you off like a gangrenous

937
00:51:50,740 --> 00:51:53,680
member for if I have not spared myself

938
00:51:53,680 --> 00:51:57,100
in the service of our country why should

939
00:51:57,100 --> 00:52:08,320
I spare you in 1716 pull wolde Alexi

940
00:52:08,320 --> 00:52:11,220
fled Russia for Vienna

941
00:52:11,220 --> 00:52:14,620
Peter was furious he suspected a

942
00:52:14,620 --> 00:52:16,080
conspiracy

943
00:52:16,080 --> 00:52:19,200
he knew that elements of the nobility

944
00:52:19,200 --> 00:52:21,790
resented the way he'd unilaterally

945
00:52:21,790 --> 00:52:24,280
declared war on Sweden and moved the

946
00:52:24,280 --> 00:52:27,610
court to st. Petersburg might they now

947
00:52:27,610 --> 00:52:32,080
be rallying around his son Peter enticed

948
00:52:32,080 --> 00:52:35,470
Alexi back to st. Petersburg he promised

949
00:52:35,470 --> 00:52:41,680
him clemency but then he had him locked

950
00:52:41,680 --> 00:52:45,850
up here at the fortress Alexei was

951
00:52:45,850 --> 00:52:48,670
interrogated under torture he was

952
00:52:48,670 --> 00:52:50,530
whipped and when his back was all

953
00:52:50,530 --> 00:52:52,990
covered in blood he admitted as anybody

954
00:52:52,990 --> 00:52:55,330
would do that he had conspired and

955
00:52:55,330 --> 00:52:58,650
plotted against his father a court

956
00:52:58,650 --> 00:53:02,290
sentenced poor Alexei to execution but

957
00:53:02,290 --> 00:53:04,210
before this could happen he was

958
00:53:04,210 --> 00:53:07,540
discovered mysteriously dead some people

959
00:53:07,540 --> 00:53:08,400
think that this was

960
00:53:08,400 --> 00:53:10,380
the effects of the torture others that

961
00:53:10,380 --> 00:53:12,870
he'd been poisoned in order to spare

962
00:53:12,870 --> 00:53:15,180
Peter the Great the humiliation of

963
00:53:15,180 --> 00:53:20,300
having to publicly execute his own son

964
00:53:29,969 --> 00:53:33,609
every single day at noon a gun fires

965
00:53:33,609 --> 00:53:37,059
from the Peter and Paul Fortress this

966
00:53:37,059 --> 00:53:38,920
tradition stretches right back to the

967
00:53:38,920 --> 00:53:41,589
early days of st. Petersburg when cannon

968
00:53:41,589 --> 00:53:43,839
shots served as a warning of floods or

969
00:53:43,839 --> 00:53:49,569
marked important state occasions in 1725

970
00:53:49,569 --> 00:53:52,479
Peter the Great heard the sound last

971
00:53:52,479 --> 00:53:54,900
time

972
00:54:01,570 --> 00:54:03,300
[Music]

973
00:54:03,300 --> 00:54:08,050
he took ill and died on February the 8th

974
00:54:08,050 --> 00:54:11,920
an autopsy reveals that Peter had

975
00:54:11,920 --> 00:54:14,910
gangrene at the bladder

976
00:54:14,910 --> 00:54:19,200
he was just 52 Russia had lost more than

977
00:54:19,200 --> 00:54:22,680
as are just three years earlier on the

978
00:54:22,680 --> 00:54:25,079
back of his Baltic conquests Peter had

979
00:54:25,079 --> 00:54:28,740
been proclaimed Emperor the Russian

980
00:54:28,740 --> 00:54:31,589
Empire would now last as long as the

981
00:54:31,589 --> 00:54:34,030
vermin of dynasty itself

982
00:54:34,030 --> 00:54:39,319
[Music]

983
00:54:42,809 --> 00:54:45,689
in little more than a century of Romanov

984
00:54:45,689 --> 00:54:47,849
rule Russia had undergone an

985
00:54:47,849 --> 00:54:50,449
extraordinary transformation

986
00:54:50,449 --> 00:54:52,979
mikail the first had inherited a

987
00:54:52,979 --> 00:54:56,969
war-torn backwater but he and his son

988
00:54:56,969 --> 00:55:00,029
Alexis used their absolute power to

989
00:55:00,029 --> 00:55:03,859
bring stability and continuity

990
00:55:05,010 --> 00:55:08,100
but Russia would have remained obscure

991
00:55:08,100 --> 00:55:10,950
and backward if peter the great's hadn't

992
00:55:10,950 --> 00:55:13,980
developed a boundless vision and then

993
00:55:13,980 --> 00:55:18,050
let nothing stand in his way

994
00:55:20,270 --> 00:55:24,210
he gave his country and Navy a new

995
00:55:24,210 --> 00:55:30,980
capital an empire and above all a future

996
00:55:32,180 --> 00:55:35,070
[Music]

997
00:55:35,070 --> 00:55:38,920
Peter reinvented Russia and that's why

998
00:55:38,920 --> 00:55:43,200
they call him Peter the Great

999
00:55:45,010 --> 00:55:49,809
[Music]

1000
00:55:51,089 --> 00:55:54,599
half a century after Peter's death this

1001
00:55:54,599 --> 00:55:56,759
statue was erected to him in st.

1002
00:55:56,759 --> 00:56:04,920
Petersburg it was designed by a French

1003
00:56:04,920 --> 00:56:07,710
sculptor but the face was done by his

1004
00:56:07,710 --> 00:56:12,119
eighteen year old female assistant who

1005
00:56:12,119 --> 00:56:14,849
modeled it on Peters own real-life death

1006
00:56:14,849 --> 00:56:17,239
mask

1007
00:56:19,760 --> 00:56:23,090
the enormous granite boulder on which

1008
00:56:23,090 --> 00:56:25,880
the bronze horseman sits is said to be

1009
00:56:25,880 --> 00:56:29,090
the largest stone ever moved by human

1010
00:56:29,090 --> 00:56:32,450
hands it's hard not to think of all the

1011
00:56:32,450 --> 00:56:34,940
broken backs and crushed limbs involved

1012
00:56:34,940 --> 00:56:37,609
in transporting it but then perhaps

1013
00:56:37,609 --> 00:56:41,750
that's appropriate for all of Peter the

1014
00:56:41,750 --> 00:56:44,060
Great's tremendous achievements I think

1015
00:56:44,060 --> 00:56:47,030
it's hard to warm to him he may have

1016
00:56:47,030 --> 00:56:49,520
derived Russia kicking and screaming

1017
00:56:49,520 --> 00:56:52,490
into the modern world but he did so with

1018
00:56:52,490 --> 00:56:54,920
ruthlessness and sometimes with

1019
00:56:54,920 --> 00:56:58,040
downright cruelty it's hard to think of

1020
00:56:58,040 --> 00:57:00,740
another sovereign who worked so hard for

1021
00:57:00,740 --> 00:57:01,460
his people

1022
00:57:01,460 --> 00:57:03,859
yet who treated them with so little

1023
00:57:03,859 --> 00:57:05,630
compassion

1024
00:57:05,630 --> 00:57:08,200
[Music]

1025
00:57:08,200 --> 00:57:10,240
nevertheless Peter changed Russia

1026
00:57:10,240 --> 00:57:11,320
forever

1027
00:57:11,320 --> 00:57:14,890
and he set the benchmark against which

1028
00:57:14,890 --> 00:57:18,010
all future were Manav rulers had to be

1029
00:57:18,010 --> 00:57:20,430
measured

1030
00:57:20,920 --> 00:57:22,730
[Music]

1031
00:57:22,730 --> 00:57:25,920
but one of them would unashamedly claim

1032
00:57:25,920 --> 00:57:29,330
Peters mantle she was the woman who

1033
00:57:29,330 --> 00:57:37,680
erected this monument to him Katherine

1034
00:57:37,680 --> 00:57:41,010
the second also known as Catherine the

1035
00:57:41,010 --> 00:57:44,370
Great but if you look at their names on

1036
00:57:44,370 --> 00:57:46,710
the base of the monument you might think

1037
00:57:46,710 --> 00:57:49,110
that Katherine's is in a slightly bigger

1038
00:57:49,110 --> 00:57:52,320
font than Peters does this mean that she

1039
00:57:52,320 --> 00:57:59,760
was even greater next time we meet

1040
00:57:59,760 --> 00:58:02,070
Catherine the Great the small kind

1041
00:58:02,070 --> 00:58:04,470
Ehrman princess who becomes a big-time

1042
00:58:04,470 --> 00:58:08,090
Russian Empress

1043
00:58:08,680 --> 00:58:12,309
we'll explore a Golden Age of Imperial

1044
00:58:12,309 --> 00:58:17,289
architecture and culture and we'll see

1045
00:58:17,289 --> 00:58:19,329
how everything that the Romano's have

1046
00:58:19,329 --> 00:58:21,460
achieved ends up hanging in the balance

1047
00:58:21,460 --> 00:58:24,250
when Napoleon invades Russia

1048
00:58:24,250 --> 00:58:27,840
[Music]

1049
00:58:32,599 --> 00:58:35,880
and part two of empire of the Czar's is

1050
00:58:35,880 --> 00:58:37,980
here on bbc4 at the same time next

1051
00:58:37,980 --> 00:58:40,230
wednesday next tonight after the queen's

1052
00:58:40,230 --> 00:58:42,299
castle as we get a glimpse behind the

1053
00:58:42,299 --> 00:58:44,599
scenes

1054
00:58:45,450 --> 00:58:53,730
[Music]

1055
00:58:53,730 --> 00:58:55,790
you