Peter the Great The Struggle for Power, 1671}}}1725 [Hardcover]

A narrative of political struggles at the Russian court during Peter the Great's reign.A history of Russian politics during a fifty-year period which saw the transformation of Russia into a more-or-less European monarchy by Peter the Great. It demonstrates that at the core of Russian politics was the interaction of the tsar and the ruling elite. Peter managed to largely master that contentious elite by a series of compromises, ultimately towards a compromise which favoured new men without excluding the aristocrats entirely. The outcome was new balance of power at the centre, and a new Europeanised culture.A history of Russian politics during a fifty-year period which saw the transformation of Russia into a more-or-less European monarchy by Peter the Great. It demonstrates that at the core of Russian politics was the interaction of the tsar and the ruling elite. Peter managed to largely master that contentious elite by a series of compromises, ultimately towards a compromise which favoured new men without excluding the aristocrats entirely. The outcome was new balance of power at the centre, and a new Europeanised culture.This book is a history of Russian politics during a fifty-year period that saw the transformation of Russia into a European monarchy by Peter the Great. Bushkovitch demonstrates that the interaction of the tsar and the ruling elite was at the core of Russian politics as Peter managed to largely master the contentious elite by a series of compromises, ultimately toward one that favored new men without excluding the aristocrats entirely. The outcome was a new balance of power at the center, and a new Europeanized culture.Preface; List of abbreviations; Introduction; Prologue: court politics and reform; 1. Tsar and boyars: structures and values; 2. The ascendancy of Artamon Matveev, 16716; 3. The reign of Tsar Fyodor, 167682; 4. The regency of Sofia, 16829; 5. Peter in power, 168999; 6. Peter and the favourites: Golovin and Menshikov, 16991706; 7.l“¦