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Russia: The Wild East

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Factual: History

A history of Russia, written and presented by Martin Sixsmith

Russia: The Wild East: Series 1

Russia: The Wild East: Series 1: Episode 9: Peter the Great

Series 1

Episode 9

Episode 9: Peter the Great

Peter the Great

BBC Radio 4 - Russia: The Wild East, Series 1, Peter the Great

Martin Sixsmith paints a portrait of Peter the Great, the architect of Russia's future.

Peter the Great, huge in stature and ambition, the architect of Russia's future, brings a new energy to the nation.

A threatening grassroots rebellion, commemorated in Shostakovich's The Execution of Stenka Razin, immediately foreshadows the reign of one of Russia's greatest Tsars, and the architect of its future. 

Peter the First, later known as The Great, was crowned as a nine year old boy. For a decade and a half he was shamelessly manipulated by relatives and regents in a violent, bloody power struggle. It left him with a burning conviction that Russia must change. Martin Sixsmith describes his relentless energy and fierce determination, which would make him the most influential ruler in Russian history. Only Lenin would come close to him in the impact he had on society and power.

Peter the Great was a giant, both physically - he was six foot seven inches tall - and intellectually. He combined intelligence and wit with an unremitting penchant for debauchery. With his band of close associates he formed The All-joking, All-drunken Synod of Fools and Jesters, with extravagant rituals of feasting and drunkenness and savage mockery of the church. But, "beneath it all, like Shakespeare's Prince Hal", Martin Sixsmith insists, "he maintained an unwavering seriousness of intent and acceptance of his destiny." 

He had inherited urgent problems, but with an eye on the West (he travelled incognito to London, Oxford and Manchester), he reformed the way Russia was governed. He created its first civil service, built a new capital city and brought the Russian calendar into line with the rest of the world. He constructed a modern army and a navy that saved Russia from the very real threat of foreign invasion, and turned a nation in danger of self-destructing into a European great power, with a vast, stable empire able to support her international ambitions. 

Historical Consultant: Professor Geoffrey Hosking


Producers: Adam Fowler & Anna Scott-Brown
A Ladbroke Production for BBC Radio 4.

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