Peter the Great and His Reign | Dr. Paul Bushkovitch

Peter I started out with the modernization of the army and the partial reorganization of the state, but the ultimate outcome was far more extensive.

He built a navy, regained Russia’s access to the Baltic Sea, founded a new capital, and thoroughly reorganized the state. In this way, he made Russia into a major power in European politics.

In this lecture, Dr. Paul Bushkovitch, Professor of History at Yale University, talked about Peter the Great’s reign as a fundamental turning point in Russian history.

Timecodes:
0:00 - Lecture
1:00:53 - Q&A

This lecture, titled "Peter the Great and His Reign," is part of the Russian History Museum's "Second Saturday" online lecture series. It was presented on January 13, 2024.

[karinkling]

Very interesting, thank you very much, Sir!

[juliusskoolafish]

A most interesting talk, thank you Paul. My introduction to Peter the Great was via Robert K Massie’s biography. You could paraphrase Peter’s achievements under the heading “modernisation of Russia” – but this also implied the secularisation and westernisation of Russia. I was left perplexed with some of the enigmatic actions of Peter and am reluctant to put him on a pedestal.
Anecdote:
One of Massie’s references is “The History of the Russian Empire under Peter the Great” by none other than Voltaire. In the author’s preface Voltaire writes:
“A [] book­seller orders a book to be written, just as a manufacturer gives directions for weaving a piece of cloth; and unhappily there are authors to be found, whose necessities oblige them to sell their labors to these dealers, like work­men for hire; hence arise these insipid panegyrics, and defamatory libels, with which the public is overrun, and is one of the most shameful vices of the age.
Never did history stand more in need of authentic vouchers, than at this time, when so infamous a traffic is made of falsehood.”
Voltaire in Author’s Preface to “The History of the Russian Empire under Peter the Great” (Vol XVIII - Part 1 - 1763)
Never has that final sentence been more relevant as in this world of faking and revising history.

[paulfelkner]

I think Peter did have a plan, warm water port, navy, professional army, extracting new taxes, frankly as a young king, he hit the ground running knowing exactly what he wanted to do.

[ioannischazaridis]

Dear friends, I am reading the book, history of Rusia, and I am amazed.

[NoToleranceForFools]

I died of a brain hemorrhage 15 minutes into this talk, now I'm in hell watching paint dry. 😴

[paulfelkner]

Charles XII made a big mistake not taking out Russia after Narva, Peter was ready to ask for peace but Charles was too arrogant. Napoleon, Hitler and today's West never learned from history.

[juliusskoolafish]

I found the following dramatised documentary most informative and enjoyable:
There are eight 50+-minute episodes in The Romanovs series. Episode 3 is on Peter.
The Romanovs. The History of the Russian Dynasty (Star Media – English)

[fredriksegerfeldt]

I thought Peter’s son was tortured to death, perhaps even by his own father.

[jam]

Dr Bushkovith, " Now let's look at Peter's first wife"
Me,

[johnnotrealname]

Is he the one who introduced serfs or was that his father? In any case, his modernisation was wholly over-rated from what I can gather as evidenced perhaps by him torturing his son to death (Although Equality before the Law is rather progressive.).