Tag Archives: Peter the Great

Alexander Nevsky Monastery in St. Petersburg

Alexander Nevsky and the Great Turn East

It must have been with a sense of irony that Peter the Great founded St. Petersburg as a “Window to the West” on the banks of the Neva River, as nearly 500 years before, it was here that Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky had won a battle which signalled Russia’s turning away from Europe and looking to the east. Alexander Yaroslavich (1220-1263)…

Kingmakers, bodyguards and traitors: Peter’s Toy Army and the Fate of Russia

One of the favourite stories told about Peter the Great is how he used to play soldiers and created his own “toy army” his poteshnye voiska. The story is often told to reveal Peter’s ambition and his ability to organise his peers but the creation of this toy army is firmly rooted in the political rivalry of the late 17th…