Concise Russian history for a traveler

Russia under the Romanovs

The Russian alliance with Poland –Saxony and Denmark led to the Great Northern War against Sweden (1700-21), which became Peter’s major concern for almost the remainder of his reign. In 1703 after several successful battles Peter laid the foundations of his new capital, St.Petersburg, at the mouth of the Neva river; the site was chosen to secure a firm footing on the Gulf of Finland and to open direct sea access to western Europe.

The building of St.Petersburg on the then inhospitable shores of the Gulf of Finland was among the most important factors in Russia’s economic development under Peter. Its construction engulfed vast sums of public and private money. Nobles who served in the central administration and at court were required to settle in the new city and to build townhouses.

The location of the new capital symbolized the shift in the empire’s political, economic, and cultural center of gravity toward western Europe. Trade and social intercourse with western Europe became easily, because of the construction of a new port in St.Petersburg.

The changes that made Peter’s reign the most seminal in Russian history were not the administrative reforms and the military conquests, significant as those were, but the transformation in the country’s culture and style of life, at least among the service nobility. Foreign observers made much of Peter’s requirement that the nobility shave off their beards, wear Western clothes, go to dance and parties, and learn to drink coffee.

Most important of all, perhaps, the reign of Peter I marked the beginning of a new period of Russian educational and cultural life. Peter the Great was the first to introduce secular education on a significant scale and to make it compulsory for all state servants. Peter organized the Academy of Sciences as an institution of scholarship, research, and instruction at the higher level.

Elizabeth (1741-62). Peter’s daughter sought to embellish St.Petersburg and its suburbs with grandiose architecture, worthy of the capital city of a great empire. During the twenty years she ruled Russia, the higher echelon of St.Petersburg society became known for its splendor and gracious hospitality. Lavish formal balls were the fashion not only in the Royal residence, but also in all the mansions and palace of St.Petersburg.