On This Day In History: Tsar Peter The Great Opens New Chapter in Russia’s History – On Mar 19, 1697

AncientPages.com - On March 19, 1697, Tsar Peter the Great left Moscow to travel to Western Europe. He was the first Tsar to leave his country in peacetime and 'opened a window into Europe.'

Russia would never be the same on his return, and the West would become a model for future changes.

Portrait of Peter I by Godfrey Kneller, 1698. This portrait was Peter's gift to the King of England.  Image credit: Godfrey Kneller  - Public Domain

The Grand Embassy, led by Peter, comprised around 250 people, and its first aim was to strengthen and expand the union between Russia and Europe in the fight against Turkey.

Peter I the Great's personality and legacy have been the source of much debate.

He has significantly influenced Russian history, science, culture, and foreign policy. But critics believe the changes were too brutal and costly to the Russian people.

They traveled through Germany, Holland, and Austria. Throughout this fascinating journey, Peter I collected knowledge of western technology and hired thousands of artisans, engineers, military personnel, architects, and painters to return to Russia.

He met King William III of England and visited Oxford University and the Greenwich Observatory. As well as English royals at the Royal Mint, he met Isaac Newton.

He attended sessions of the English parliament and talked with church bishops, politicians, and other prominent people. Traveling in disguise, Peter I sought technological innovations and inventions, especially in shipbuilding. He observed and even worked in dockyards and visited cannon foundries, schools, museums, factories, and medical practices.

Also, in 1703, Peter set upon his most dramatic project. Having disliked Moscow since childhood, he longed for a brand new city, his European paradise, to be built from scratch on the Gulf of Finland. Over the next nine years, at a tremendous human and financial cost, St. Petersburg sprang up, becoming Russia's new capital in 1712.

But his diplomatic mission was unsuccessful as Europe was too preoccupied with the Spanish and French wars to worry about problems further east and Turkey.

On his return to Moscow, Peter I demanded Western appearance standards and that beards should be shaved off at court and more European dresses be worn. The Tsar chose a more western development for his country, and many reforms followed. One was a change from the old Russian calendar to the Julian calendar used in the West. In this calendar, years were counted from the birth of Christ rather than the creation of the world.

Many people later praised Peter I for his reforms, but others felt he betrayed his country's traditions.

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