Peter I of Russia Quotes

Peter I , commonly known as Peter the Great, was Tsar of all Russia from 1682, and the first Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned jointly with his half-brother Ivan V until 1696. From this year, Peter was an absolute monarch who remained the ultimate authority. His methods were often harsh and autocratic.

Most of Peter's reign was consumed by long wars against the Ottoman and Swedish Empires. Despite initial difficulties, the wars were ultimately successful and led to expansion to the Sea of Azov and the Baltic Sea, thus laying the groundwork for the Imperial Russian Navy. His victory in the Great Northern War ended Sweden's era as a great power and its domination of the Baltic region while elevating Russia's standing to the extent it came to be acknowledged as an empire. Peter led a cultural revolution that replaced some of the traditionalist and medieval social and political systems with ones that were modern, scientific, Westernized, and based on radical Enlightenment.In 1700, he introduced the Gregorian calendar but the Russian Orthodox Church was particularly resistant to this change; they wanted to maintain its distinct identity and avoid appearing influenced by Catholic practices. In 1703, he introduced the first Russian newspaper, Sankt-Peterburgskie Vedomosti, ordered the civil script, a reform of Russian orthography largely designed by himself. He founded the city of Saint Petersburg on the shore of the Neva as a "window to the West" in May 1703. In 1712 Peter moved the capital from Moscow to Saint Petersburg, where it remained – with only a brief interruption – until 1918. He promoted higher education and industrialization in the Russian Empire.

Peter had a great interest in plants, animals and minerals, in malformed creatures or exceptions to the law of nature for his cabinet of curiosities. He encouraged research of deformities, all along trying to debunk the superstitious fear of monsters. The Russian Academy of Sciences and the Saint Petersburg State University were founded in 1724, a year before his death.

Peter is primarily credited with the modernization of the country, transforming it into a major European power. His administrative reforms, creating a Governing Senate in 1711, the Collegium in 1717 and the Table of Ranks in 1722 had a lasting impact on Russia, and many institutions of the Russian government trace their origins to his reign. Wikipedia  

✵ 30. May 1672 – 28. January 1725   •   Other names Petr I. Veliký
Peter I of Russia photo
Peter I of Russia: 3   quotes 4   likes

Famous Peter I of Russia Quotes

“Alas! I have civilized my own subjects; I have conquered other nations; yet I have not been able to civilize or to conquer myself.”

Attributed in Sholto Percy and Reuben Percy, The Percy Anecdotes (1826), Vol. 1, p. 55 http://books.google.com/books?id=5oJUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA55

“A ruler that has but an army has one hand, but he who has a navy has both.”

Attributed in Way a River Went: Following the Volga Through the Heart of Russia https://books.google.com/books?id=x9EWDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT163&lpg=PT163&dq=%22A+ruler+that+has+but+an+army+has+one+hand,+but+he+who+has+a+navy+has+both.%22&source=bl&ots=jS__N1LP8U&sig=GuCyl4v-BeAwUpmB1PDaIxAcSeY&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjV_9KHxMjeAhXmY98KHTStBRgQ6AEwBHoECAcQAQ#v=onepage&q=%22A%20ruler%20that%20has%20but%20an%20army%20has%20one%20hand%2C%20but%20he%20who%20has%20a%20navy%20has%20both.%22&f=false (2015), by Thom Wheeler, p. 163

Similar authors

Catherine the Great photo
Catherine the Great 29
Empress of Russia
Vincent de Paul photo
Vincent de Paul 4
French priest, founder and saint
Isaac Newton photo
Isaac Newton 171
British physicist and mathematician and founder of modern c…
Martin Luther photo
Martin Luther 214
seminal figure in Protestant Reformation
Ignatius of Loyola photo
Ignatius of Loyola 9
Catholic Saint, founder of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuit…
Jeremy Bentham photo
Jeremy Bentham 30
British philosopher, jurist, and social reformer
John Amos Comenius photo
John Amos Comenius 12
Czech teacher, educator, philosopher and writer
Marguerite Bourgeoys photo
Marguerite Bourgeoys 6
French colonist and foundress
Denis Diderot photo
Denis Diderot 106
French Enlightenment philosopher and encyclopædist
Francis Bacon photo
Francis Bacon 295
English philosopher, statesman, scientist, jurist, and auth…