Nowadays, there are a large number of books and records about the life of Peter 1. In this article we will tell a brief biography of the first Emperor of All Russia - Peter Alekseevich Romanov (Peter 1). A large number of large and significant transformations for the Russian state are associated with his name.

Date and place of birth

The last Tsar of All Rus' was born on June 9, 1672; according to folk tales, Peter was born in the village of Kolomenskoye.

Family and parents of Peter 1

Peter 1 was the son of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina. The parents were of different social status. The father is the second Russian Tsar from the Romanov dynasty, and the mother is a small noblewoman. Natalya Kirillovna was the second wife of Alexei Mikhailovich, his first wife, Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya, died during childbirth.
Peter 1 had two wives: the first was Evdokia Fedorovna Lopukhina, the second was Ekaterina Alekseevna Mikhailova (Ekaterina 1). During his life, the Russian Emperor had 10 children (2 from his first marriage and 8 from his second). Unfortunately, most of the children died in childhood.

The childhood of Peter the Great

From an early age, Peter loved to play with military toys, seeing this, his father appointed the experienced Colonel Menesius as a mentor in military affairs. It is worth noting that Alexey Mikhailovich organized the “Petrov Regiment,” a small military association that served as the basis for teaching military affairs in a playful way. This regiment had real uniforms and weapons. Later, such associations began to be called “amusing regiments.” Here Peter underwent his first real military practical training. At the age of ten, Peter 1 had already begun to govern Russia. It was 1682.

The reign of Peter 1. Briefly

Peter the Great finally transformed the Muscovite kingdom into the Russian Empire. Under him, Rus' became Russia: a multinational power with access to the southern and northern seas.
Peter 1 is the creator of the Russian fleet, the founding date of which can be called 1696. The memory of the Battle of Poltava, in which Russia won, remains forever in the history of Russia. In the war with Turkey, he conquered Azov, and the Northern War with Sweden provided Russia with access to the Baltic Sea.
Another great deed was the founding of St. Petersburg. Under him, the first printed domestic newspaper, Vedomosti, began to appear. He created the conditions for the development of various sciences and urban planning and industry. Peter's indomitable energy allowed him to master many professions - from carpentry to sailor. One of them was that while in Holland the emperor learned the basics of dental treatment (namely, he learned how to pull them out).
He ordered to celebrate the New Year on the first of January. It is to him that we owe the cheerful custom of decorating Christmas trees for this holiday.
Peter 1 died in 1725 after a long illness, which he received while rescuing people from a sinking ship, pulling them out of icy water.

Peter the Great inherited a cumbersome and clumsy country. The symbols of his reforms were a club and pincers. With the help of the first, he prompted careless officials and punished bribe-takers, and with the latter, he tore out hardened dogmas from the heads of his subordinates, sometimes along with his teeth. His ideal is a state machine that works like a clock, without material needs and physical disabilities. He admired the scientific and technological achievements of Europe, but did not accept liberal values ​​at all. With superhuman efforts, he laid the foundations of the power of the new Russia.

Rebellious Age

The debate about the origin of Peter the Great still continues. His actions were too unusual against the backdrop of Muscovy at that time. During his time, there were rumors about a substitution in Holland. Now there are opinions that Peter was not the son of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. But even if he is not his father's offspring, what does that mean for the country he built?

The future Emperor Peter I was born on June 9, 1672 in the royal chambers in Moscow. His mother was from a seedy noble family of the Naryshkins. Male children from the first wife of the Miloslavsky family either died in infancy or, like Tsar Fedor and Ivan Alekseevich, had poor health.

Petrusha's childhood was marred by violence. The struggle for power between the Naryshkins and the Miloslavskys ended with the Streltsy rebellion, which brought Princess Sophia to power. Tsars Peter and Ivan rule nominally. Sophia is not afraid of the weak-minded Ivan, but Peter grew up as a strong and strong boy, and staged amusing battles with amusing troops. Subsequently, the Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky regiments would become the key to brilliant victories.

Young Peter poses a serious threat to Princess Sophia, but for the time being he is not interested in state affairs. He spends his free time in the German Settlement and sees with his own eyes the benefits of the Western lifestyle. On the Yauza River he builds amusing ships, and trains his fellows in the European style and supplies them with artillery. In the year of Peter's coming of age, Sophia again tries to provoke another Streltsy riot in order to kill the young king in the commotion. Peter flees to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, where he concentrates his strength. The Streltsy masses recognize its legitimacy and leave Sophia. The latter is imprisoned in the Novodevichy monastery.

Moscow period of rule

After the overthrow of Sophia, little changed in Peter's life. The Naryshkin clique rules on his behalf, and Peter continues to take amusing fortresses and master crafts. He teaches arithmetic, geometry and military science. He is surrounded by foreigners, many of whom will become his comrades in transforming the state. His mother tries to return him to the fold of tradition and marries Evdokia Lopukhina, from an old boyar family. But Peter also likes European women, so, having hastily fulfilled his marital duty, he disappears in the German Settlement. Anna Mons, the charming daughter of a German wine merchant, is waiting for him there.

When, after the death of his mother, Peter began to rule independently, he was already an adherent of the European style of life. More precisely, he admired the Dutch and Germans, remaining almost indifferent to Catholic countries. However, the new king is in no hurry to introduce new orders. He needed the aura of a successful commander, and in 1695 he was going on a campaign against Turkey. The Azov fortress can only be taken the next year, when a newly created flotilla blocks it from the sea.

Grand Embassy

The Tsar understands: Russia is suffocating without access to the seas. Building a fleet requires a lot of money. Heavy taxes are imposed on all classes. Leaving the country in the care of the boyar Fyodor Romodanovsky, for whom he invented the title of Prince Caesar, Peter goes on a pilgrimage across Europe. The formal reason for the visit was the search for allies to fight Turkey. He entrusted this mission to Admiral General F. Lefort and General F. Golovin. Peter himself hid under the name of the sergeant of the Preobrazhensky Regiment, Peter Mikhailov.

In Holland, he takes part in the construction of the ship "Peter and Paul", trying himself in all crafts. He is only interested in the technical achievements of the West. In matters of government, he was an eastern despot, he himself participated in executions and torture and mercilessly suppressed all manifestations of popular unrest. Tsar Peter also visited the cradle of European democracy, England, where he visited parliament, a foundry, an arsenal, Oxford University, the Greenwich Observatory and the Mint, the caretaker of which at that time was Sir Isaac Newton. Peter purchases equipment and specialists in shipbuilding.

Meanwhile, a Streltsy revolt breaks out in the country, which is brutally suppressed until the Tsar returns. The investigation points to the mastermind of the rebellion - Princess Sophia. Peter's rage and contempt for the old order only intensifies. He does not want to wait any longer and issues a decree banning beards for the nobility and introducing German dress. In 1700, the Julian calendar was introduced, replacing the Byzantine one, according to which the year 7208 in Russia was from the creation of the world. It is interesting to read his instructions and decrees now. They have a lot of humor and peasant ingenuity. So in one of them we read that “a subordinate in front of his superiors should look dashing and stupid, so as not to embarrass his superiors with his understanding.”

North War

Peter the Great continued the work of Ivan the Terrible, who waged the Livonian War for access to the Baltic Sea. His military reforms begin with the introduction of conscription, according to which soldiers had to serve for 25 years. Serf Russia sends the most violent and passionate peasants into the army. This is the secret of the brilliant victories of Russia in the eighteenth century. But noble children are also required to serve, and they are given a Table of Ranks.

In preparation for war with Sweden, Peter put together the Northern Union, which included Denmark, Saxony and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The campaign got off to a bad start. Denmark is forced to withdraw from the war, and the Russians are defeated at Narva. However, military reforms continued, and already in the autumn of 1702, the Russians began to kick the Swedes out of the Baltic cities: Noteburg, Nieschanz, Dorpat and Narva. Swedish King Charles XII invades Ukraine to unite with Hetman Ivan Mazepa. Here Russian weapons crowned themselves with victories in the Battle of Lesnaya (October 9, 1708) and in the Battle of Poltava (July 8, 1709).

The defeated Charles XII flees to Istanbul and incites the Sultan to go to war with Russia. In the summer of 1711, Peter went on the Prut campaign against Turkey, which ended with the encirclement of Russian troops. The Tsar manages to pay off with jewelry, which was taken off by Peter's new wife Marta Skavronskaya, a pupil of the Lutheran pastor Ernst Gluck. According to the new peace treaty, Russia gave the Azov fortress to Turkey and lost access to the Sea of ​​Azov.

But failures in the east can no longer hinder the successes of the Russian army in the Baltic states. After the mysterious death of Charles XII, the Swedes no longer resist. According to the Treaty of Nystad (September 10, 1721), Russia gains access to the Baltic Sea, as well as the territory of Ingria, part of Karelia, Estland and Livonia. At the request of the Senate, Tsar Peter accepted the title of the Great, Father of the Fatherland and Emperor of All Russia.

Pincers and club

Peter the Great's reforms were aimed not only at modernizing society and the state. The colossal expenses for the army and for the construction of the new capital, St. Petersburg, forced the tsar to introduce new taxes, ruining the already impoverished peasantry. An Asian gentleman moved into the family of civilized peoples, hastily dressed in European clothes, armed with European technologies, but did not want to hear anything, in order to give his slaves at least some human rights. Therefore, it is not surprising that even a hundred years after Peter’s death one could read in the capital’s newspapers: “Puppies of a purebred bitch and a 17-year-old girl, trained in women’s crafts, are for sale.”

The administrative-command system created by Peter the Great elevated him to the rank of absolute monarch. By bringing people from the lower classes closer to him, he had no intention of breaking the social hierarchy. The enlightened elite no longer saw their brothers in the peasants, as was the case in Muscovite Rus'. The European way of life, to which the nobility was accustomed, required financial support, so the oppression and enslavement of the serfs only intensified. The once homogeneous society is divided into white and black bones, which 200 years later will lead to a bloody outcome of the revolution and civil war in Russia.

Death and aftermath

Having repealed the law on succession to the throne, Peter himself fell into its snare. Government concerns and excessive libations undermined his health. To his credit, it must be said that he did not spare either himself or others. While inspecting the Ladoga Canal, the Tsar rushes into the water to save stranded soldiers. Kidney stone disease, complicated by uremia, worsens. There is neither time nor energy, but the emperor hesitates with his will. It seems that he simply does not know who to pass the throne to. On February 8, 1725, Peter the Great died in terrible agony, without saying who he would like to see on the Russian throne.

The death of Peter ushered in the era of Guards coups, when empresses and sovereigns were placed on the throne by a handful of nobles who had secured the support of elite regiments. The last Guards coup was attempted by the Decembrists on Senate Square in 1825.

The meaning of Peter's reforms is contradictory, but this is normal for all Russian reformers. The country with the coldest climate and the most risky agriculture will always strive to minimize development costs, devoting all its efforts to basic survival. And when the lag becomes critical, society pushes forward another “transformer” who will have to take the rap for the mistakes and excesses of accelerated development. It’s a paradox, but reforms in Russia have always been in the name of preserving one’s own identity, to strengthen the state machine, through updating it with the latest technical achievements. For the sake of the survival of Russian civilization, which embraces Europe and Asia, remaining unlike either one or the other.

Peter I the Great (05/30/1672 - 01/28/1725) - the first All-Russian Emperor, one of the outstanding Russian statesmen, who went down in history as a man of progressive views, who carried out active reform activities in the Russian state and expanded the territory of the state in the Baltic region.

Peter 1 was born on May 30, 1672. His father, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, had a very numerous offspring: Peter was his fourteenth child. Peter was the first-born of his mother, Tsarina Natalya Naryshkina. After staying with the queen for a year, Peter was given to nannies to raise. When the boy was four, his father died, and his half-brother Fyodor Alekseevich, who became the new tsar, was appointed guardian of the prince. Peter the first received a weak education, so he wrote with errors all his life. However, Peter the Great subsequently managed to compensate for the shortcomings of his basic education with rich practical training.

In the spring of 1682, after six years of his reign, Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich died. An uprising of the Streltsy took place in Moscow and the young Peter and his brother Ivan were elevated to the throne, and their elder sister Princess Sofya Alekseevna was named ruler. Peter spent little time in Moscow, living with his mother in the villages of Izmailovo and Preobrazhenskoye. Energetic and active, who did not receive a church or secular systematic education, he spent all his time in active games with peers. Subsequently, he was allowed to create “amusing regiments” with which the boy played out maneuvers and battles. In the summer of 1969, having learned that Sophia was preparing a Streltsy rebellion, Peter escaped to the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, where loyal regiments and part of the court arrived to him. Sophia was removed from power and then imprisoned in the Novodevichy Convent.

Peter 1 initially entrusted the management of the country to his uncle L.K. Naryshkin and his mother, still visiting Moscow little. In 1689, at the insistence of his mother, he married Evdokia Lopukhina. In 1695, Peter 1 undertook his first military campaign against the Azov fortress, which ended in failure. Having hastily built a fleet in Voronezh, the tsar organized a second campaign against Azov, which brought him his first victory, strengthening his authority. In 1697, the tsar went abroad, where he studied shipbuilding, working in shipyards and getting acquainted with the technical achievements of European countries, their way of life and political structure. It was there that the political program of Peter I took shape, the goal of which was the creation of a regular police state. Peter I considered himself the first servant of his fatherland, whose duty was to teach his subjects by example.

Peter's reforms began with the order to shave off the beards of everyone, with the exception of the clergy and peasants, as well as with the introduction of foreign dress. In 1699, a calendar reform was also carried out. On the orders of the tsar, young men from noble families were sent abroad to study so that the state could have its own qualified personnel. In 1701, a Navigation School was created in Moscow.

In 1700, Russia, trying to gain a foothold in the Baltic, was defeated near Narva. Peter I realized that the reason for this failure lay in the backwardness of the Russian army, and began to create regular regiments, introducing conscription in 1705. Weapons and metallurgical factories began to be built, supplying small arms and cannons to the army. The Russian army began to win its first victories over the enemy, capturing a significant part of the Baltic states. In 1703, Peter I founded St. Petersburg. In 1708, Russia was divided into provinces. With the creation of the Governing Senate in 1711, Peter 1 began to carry out management reforms and create new government bodies. In 1718, tax reform began. After the end of the Northern War, Russia was proclaimed an empire in 1721, and Peter 1 was awarded the titles “Father of the Fatherland” and “Great” by the Senate.

Peter the Great, realizing the technical backwardness of Russia, contributed in every possible way to the development of domestic industry, as well as trade. He also carried out many cultural transformations. Under him, secular educational institutions began to appear, and the first Russian newspaper was founded. The Academy of Sciences was founded in 1724.

The first wife of Peter the Great, having become involved in the Streltsy rebellion, was exiled to a monastery. In 1712 he married Ekaterina Alekseevna, whom Peter crowned as co-ruler and empress in 1724.

Peter I died on January 28, 1725. from pneumonia.

The main achievements of Peter I

• Peter the Great entered the history of the Russian state as a transforming tsar. As a result of Peter's reforms, Russia was able to become a full-fledged participant in international relations and began to pursue an active foreign policy. Peter 1 strengthened the authority of the Russian state in the world. Also, under him, the foundations of Russian national culture were laid. The management system he created, as well as the administrative-territorial division of the state, was preserved for a long time. At the same time, the main instrument for carrying out Peter’s reforms was violence. These reforms could not rid the state of the previously established system of social relations, which was embodied in serfdom; on the contrary, they only strengthened the institutions of serfdom, which was the main contradiction of Peter’s reforms.

Important dates in the biography of Peter I

• 05/30/1672 - Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich gave birth to a boy, who was named Peter.
• 1676 - Alexei Mikhailovich died, Fyodor Alekseevich, brother of Peter 1, became king.
• 1682 – Tsar Feodor III died. Uprising of the Streltsy in Moscow. Ivan and Peter were elected kings, and Princess Sophia was proclaimed ruler.
• 1689 – Peter married Evdokia Lopukhina. Deposition of the ruler Sophia.
• 1695 – Peter’s first Azov campaign.
• 1696 - after the death of Ivan Y, Peter 1 became the only Tsar of Rus'.
• 1696 – Peter’s second Azov campaign.
• 1697 – departure of the king to Western Europe.
• 1698 – return of Peter 1 to Russia. Exile of Evdokia Lopukhina to the monastery.
• 1699 – introduction of a new calendar.
• 1700 – beginning of the Northern War.
• 1701 – organization of the Navigation School.
• 1703 – Peter’s first naval victory.
• 1703 – foundation of St. Petersburg.
• 1709 – defeat of the Swedes near Poltava.
• 1711 – establishment of the Senate.
• 1712 – marriage of Peter 1 with Ekaterina Alekseevna.
• 1714 - decree on unified inheritance.
• 1715 – foundation of the Maritime Academy in St. Petersburg.
• 1716-1717 – Peter the Great’s second trip abroad.
• 1721 – establishment of the Synod. The Senate awarded Peter 1 the title of Great, Father of the Fatherland, and also Emperor.
• 1722 – reform of the Senate.
• 1722-1723 – Peter’s Caspian campaign, after which the southern and western Caspian coast was annexed to Russia.
• 1724 – establishment of the Academy of Sciences. Coronation of Empress Catherine Alekseevna.
• 1725 – death of Peter I.

Interesting facts from the life of Peter the Great

• Peter was the first to combine gaiety, practical dexterity and apparent straightforwardness in his character with spontaneous impulses in the manifestation of both affection and anger, and sometimes with unbridled cruelty.
• Only his wife Ekaterina Alekseevna could cope with the king in his angry attacks, who with affection knew how to calm Peter’s periodic attacks of severe headaches. The sound of her voice calmed the king, Catherine laid her husband’s head, caressing it, on her chest, and Peter 1 fell asleep. Catherine sat motionless for hours, after which Peter was the first to wake up absolutely cheerful and fresh.

Peter the Great was born in Moscow in 1672. His parents are Alexey Mikhailovich and Natalya Naryshkina. Peter was raised by nannies, his education was weak, but the boy’s health was strong, he was sick least of all in the family.

When Peter was ten years old, he and his brother Ivan were proclaimed kings. In fact, Sofya Alekseevna reigned. And Peter and his mother left for Preobrazhenskoye. There, little Peter began to become interested in military activities and shipbuilding.

In 1689, Peter I became king, and Sophia's reign was suspended.

During his reign, Peter created a powerful fleet. The ruler fought against Crimea. Peter went to Europe because he needed allies to help him stand against the Ottoman Empire. In Europe, Peter devoted a lot of time to shipbuilding and studying the cultures of different countries. The ruler mastered many crafts in Europe. One of them is gardening. Peter I brought tulips from Holland to the Russian Empire. The emperor liked to grow various plants brought from abroad in his gardens. Peter also brought rice and potatoes to Russia. In Europe, he became obsessed with the idea of ​​changing his state.

Peter I waged war with Sweden. He annexed Kamchatka to Russia and the shores of the Caspian Sea. It was in this sea that Peter I baptized those close to him. Peter's reforms were innovative. During the Emperor's reign there were several military reforms, the power of the state increased, and a regular army and navy were founded. The ruler also invested his efforts in the economy and industry. Peter I invested a lot of effort in the education of citizens. Many schools were opened by them.

Peter I died in 1725. He was seriously ill. Peter handed the throne to his wife. He was a strong and persistent person. Peter I made many changes, both in the political system and in the life of the people. He successfully ruled the state for more than forty years.

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• The future emperor was born on May 30 (June 9), 1672 in Moscow.
• Peter's father, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, received the nickname Quietest from his subjects during his lifetime for his meek disposition. He already had 13 children from his first marriage to Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya, most of whom died in infancy.
• For his mother, Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina, Peter was the first-born and most beloved child, “the light of Petrushenka” throughout her life.
• 1676 - Peter lost his father. After the death of Alexei Mikhailovich, the fierce struggle for power waged by the Naryshkin and Miloslavsky families intensified. Four-year-old Peter has not yet laid claim to the throne occupied by his older brother, Fyodor Alekseevich. The latter supervised the education of Peter, and later appointed clerk Nikita Zotov as his teacher.
• 1682 - Fyodor Alekseevich dies. Peter is crowned king together with his brother Ivan, so the two noble families hoped to come to a compromise and share the sweetness among themselves. But Peter is still small - he is only ten years old, and Ivan is simply sick and weak. So, in fact, power in the country passed to their common sister, Princess Sophia.
• After Sophia actually usurped power, her mother took Peter near Moscow, to the village of Preobrazhenskoye. There he spent the rest of his childhood. The future emperor studied mathematics, military and naval affairs at Preobrazhenskoe, and often visited the German settlement. For military fun, Peter was recruited from two “amusing” regiments from the boyar children, Semenovsky and Preobrazhensky. Gradually, a circle of trusted persons formed around Peter, among whom was Menshikov, loyal to the Tsar until the end of his life.
• 1689 - Peter I marries. The boyar's daughter, the girl Evdokia Fedorovna Lopukhina, became the tsar's chosen one. In many ways, the marriage was concluded to please the mother, who wanted to show political competitors that Tsar Peter was already old enough to take power into his own hands.
• The same year there is a Streltsy revolt, provoked by Princess Sophia. Peter manages to remove his sister from the throne. The princess is sent to the Novodevichy Convent.
• 1689 - 1694 - the country is ruled on behalf of Peter by his mother, Natalya Naryshkina.
• 1696 - Tsar Ivan dies. Peter becomes the sole ruler of Russia. Supporters and relatives of his mother help him in ruling. The autocrat spends most of his time in Preobrazhenskoe, organizing “amusing” fights, or in the German Settlement, gradually becoming saturated with European ideas.
• 1695 – 1696 – Peter I undertakes the Azov campaigns. Their goal was to provide Russia with access to the sea and secure the southern borders, where the Turks ruled. The first campaign was unsuccessful, and Peter realized that the only way to win for Russia was to bring the fleet to Azov. The fleet was urgently built in Voronezh, and the autocrat took personal part in the construction. In 1696 Azov was taken.
• 1697 - The Tsar understands that in technical terms and naval affairs Russia is still far from Europe. On the initiative of Peter, the first Grand Embassy headed by Franz Lefort, F.A. is sent to Holland. Golovin and P.B. Voznitsyn. The embassy consists mainly of young boyars. Peter travels to Holland incognito, under the name of the sailor Peter Mikhailov.
• In Holland, Petr Mikhailov not only studied shipbuilding for four months, but also worked on a ship in Saardam. Then the Embassy goes to England, where Peter studied naval affairs in Dapford. At the same time, the Embassy participants conducted secret negotiations on the creation of an anti-Turkish coalition, but with little success - European states were afraid to get involved with Russia.
• 1698 - having learned about the Streletsky riot in Moscow, Peter returns. The uprising was suppressed with unprecedented cruelty.
• Upon returning from the Embassy, ​​Peter begins his famous reforms. First of all, a decree was issued requiring the boyars to shave their beards and dress in a European manner. For his unprecedented demands, many begin to consider Peter the Antichrist. Transformations in all spheres of life, from the political structure to the church, occur throughout the life of the king.
• Then, having returned from the Embassy, ​​Peter separated from his first wife Evdokia Lopukhina (sent to a monastery) and married the captive Latvian Marta Skavronskaya, who received the name Ekaterina at baptism. From his first marriage, the Tsar has a son, Alexei.
• 1700 - Peter realizes that the only exit to Europe for Russia is through the Baltic Sea. But the Baltic is ruled by the Swedes, led by the king and talented commander Charles XII. The king refuses to sell the Baltic lands to Russia. Realizing the inevitability of war, Peter uses a trick - he unites against Sweden with Denmark, Norway and Saxony.
• 1700 - 1721 - The Northern War was waged throughout almost the entire life of Peter, then dying out, then resuming again. The main land battle of that war was the Battle of Poltava (1709), which was won by the Russians. Charles XII is invited to celebrate the victory, and Peter raises the first glass to him, as to his main enemy. The first naval victory was the victory in the Battle of Gangut in 1714. The Russians retook Finland.
• 1703 - Peter decides to build a city on the banks of the Neva River and the Gulf of Finland for strategic purposes.
• 1710 - Turkey declares war on Russia, in which Russia, already waging battles in the north, loses.
• 1712 - Peter moves the capital to the Neva, to St. Petersburg. It is impossible to say that the city was built, but the foundations of the infrastructure were laid, and this seemed enough to the king.
• 1713 – The Treaty of Adrianople is signed, according to which Russia renounces Azov in favor of Turkey.
• 1714 - Peter sends a research expedition to Central Asia.
• 1715 - an expedition to the Caspian Sea is sent.
• 1717 - another expedition, this time to Khiva.
• 1718 - in the Peter and Paul Fortress, under circumstances that have not yet been clarified, Peter’s son from his first marriage, Alexei, dies. There is a version that the order to kill the heir was issued personally by the autocrat, suspecting him of treason.
• September 10, 1721 – The Treaty of Nystad was signed, marking the end of the Northern War. In November of the same year, Peter I was proclaimed Emperor of All Russia.
1722 - Russia gets involved in the war between the Ottoman Empire and Persia and is the first to capture the Caspian Sea. In the same year, Peter signed the Decree on Succession to the Throne, which became a landmark for the subsequent development of Russia - now the autocrat must appoint a successor for himself, no one can inherit the throne.
• 1723 - in exchange for military support, the Persian khans give Russia the eastern and southern territories of the Caspian Sea.
• 1724 - Peter I declares his wife Catherine empress. Most likely, this was done for one purpose - Peter wanted to bequeath the throne to her. Peter had no male heirs after Alexei's death. Catherine bore him several children, but only two daughters, Anna and Elizabeth, survived.
• Autumn 1724 - a shipwreck occurs in the Gulf of Finland. The emperor, who witnessed the incident, rushes into the icy water to save the drowning people. The matter ended with a severe cold - Peter’s body, undermined by inhuman stress, could not withstand the autumn swim.
• On January 28 (February 8), 1725, Emperor Peter I dies in St. Petersburg. He was buried in the Peter and Paul Fortress.