0:00:09 > 0:00:12I'm making my first trip to Russia,
0:00:12 > 0:00:15a country I've been wanting to visit for years.
0:00:17 > 0:00:21Because if you're fascinated by stories of royalty and royal power,
0:00:21 > 0:00:23there's nowhere better than this.
0:00:24 > 0:00:26CHURCH BELL TOLLS
0:00:26 > 0:00:31This is Red Square. It's a vast and diverse place.
0:00:31 > 0:00:34This is the huge, scary-looking fortress of the Kremlin.
0:00:34 > 0:00:38This is an absolutely ginormous department store.
0:00:38 > 0:00:41And over there is the Cathedral of St Basil.
0:00:42 > 0:00:47Red Square is the centre of a country that goes all the way to China.
0:00:47 > 0:00:52Now, how do you rule over a place that enormous and that confusing?
0:00:52 > 0:00:55Well, in Russia, for more than 300 years,
0:00:55 > 0:00:59one family managed to do just that. The Romanov dynasty.
0:00:59 > 0:01:03That's as if, in Britain, the Stuarts had hung onto power
0:01:03 > 0:01:06right into the 20th century.
0:01:07 > 0:01:12Now, I'll be following in the footsteps of the Romanovs,
0:01:12 > 0:01:16the most powerful monarchs in modern European history.
0:01:16 > 0:01:20It's a roll call of extraordinary characters.
0:01:21 > 0:01:26Peter the Great. The visionary who built a navy from nothing...
0:01:26 > 0:01:28Ready for attack!
0:01:28 > 0:01:31..and transformed a country into an empire.
0:01:34 > 0:01:38Catherine the Great, empress of the glittering palaces.
0:01:40 > 0:01:43The minor princess from Germany
0:01:43 > 0:01:45who became the mightiest woman in the world.
0:01:48 > 0:01:53Alexander I, who led his country through its darkest hour.
0:01:53 > 0:01:55SOLDIERS ROAR
0:01:55 > 0:01:57He defeated Napoleon.
0:01:57 > 0:02:01And took the triumphant Russian army all the way to Paris.
0:02:03 > 0:02:07But behind the spectacular facades lie stories of intrigue,
0:02:07 > 0:02:11betrayal, scandal, even murder.
0:02:15 > 0:02:17And, for all their efforts to place themselves
0:02:17 > 0:02:19at the forefront of modern Europe,
0:02:19 > 0:02:23the Romanovs failed to change a system that kept
0:02:23 > 0:02:27millions of their subjects in medieval servitude...
0:02:27 > 0:02:29until it was far too late.
0:02:32 > 0:02:36When their end came, it was astonishingly brutal.
0:02:36 > 0:02:37GUNSHOT
0:02:39 > 0:02:43Slaughtered by the revolution that shook the world.
0:02:45 > 0:02:47To understand the end of the Romanovs,
0:02:47 > 0:02:51you need to understand their whole story -
0:02:51 > 0:02:55of a royal family with unparalleled control over their people.
0:02:55 > 0:02:58And you might ask yourself what you would have done in their shoes
0:02:58 > 0:03:02with such absolute personal power.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33For anyone who grew up during the Cold War,
0:03:33 > 0:03:36it's hard to shake off the image of Russia
0:03:36 > 0:03:39as intimidating and impregnable.
0:03:40 > 0:03:45A bona fide superpower under the iron rule of the Kremlin.
0:03:49 > 0:03:52Images of military might on display in Red Square
0:03:52 > 0:03:55have been seared into our minds.
0:03:59 > 0:04:03Yet the age of the Romanovs began in a power vacuum.
0:04:03 > 0:04:07And in this programme, we'll see how, in little more than a century,
0:04:07 > 0:04:11this dynasty turned around Russia's fortunes.
0:04:16 > 0:04:20Back in 1613, Russia was leaderless.
0:04:20 > 0:04:24There had been years of anarchy since the previous royal dynasty,
0:04:24 > 0:04:26the Ruriks, had collapsed.
0:04:26 > 0:04:30The country was so weakened that the Polish army had marched right in
0:04:30 > 0:04:32and occupied the Kremlin.
0:04:34 > 0:04:36Once the Poles had finally been driven out,
0:04:36 > 0:04:40the great and good of Russia realised that they needed to stop squabbling,
0:04:40 > 0:04:42and unite around a leader.
0:04:42 > 0:04:46What they wanted the Romans had called a Caesar,
0:04:46 > 0:04:50the Germans, a Kaiser, and, in Russian, a tsar.
0:04:50 > 0:04:53They argued for weeks about who it should be.
0:04:53 > 0:04:55But finally they made their choice.
0:04:55 > 0:04:58The only problem was that nobody had asked this prospective tsar
0:04:58 > 0:05:01if he actually wanted the job.
0:05:06 > 0:05:10The high-powered delegation set out from Moscow
0:05:10 > 0:05:13to find their hoped-for leader, and bring him the good news.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18Their number included nobles and leading churchmen,
0:05:18 > 0:05:23the power brokers of Russia, or Muscovy, as it was also known.
0:05:25 > 0:05:28Their journey took them more than 200 miles north,
0:05:28 > 0:05:33across countryside that was still dangerous and largely lawless.
0:05:38 > 0:05:44And this was their destination - the Ipatiev Monastery,
0:05:44 > 0:05:47overlooking the mighty River Volga.
0:05:47 > 0:05:49SHIP'S HORN
0:05:51 > 0:05:54It was still winter and, with no bridge back then,
0:05:54 > 0:05:57the delegation had to cross the ice to get to the monastery.
0:06:13 > 0:06:18Sheltering here was the object of the delegation's quest.
0:06:18 > 0:06:21A 16-year-old boy called Mikhail Romanov.
0:06:28 > 0:06:31But although the Romanovs were a well-known noble family,
0:06:31 > 0:06:34power was the last thing that he wanted.
0:06:40 > 0:06:43It's said that when Mikhail Romanov was offered the crown,
0:06:43 > 0:06:48he burst into tears. He didn't feel equal to accepting it.
0:06:48 > 0:06:52And his mother was furious with the delegation. She said, "Niet."
0:06:52 > 0:06:58"No, you shouldn't have offered my son such a dangerous responsibility."
0:06:58 > 0:07:02But the delegation said, "It's not up to us, it's not up to you.
0:07:02 > 0:07:05"It's God who wants you to do this thing."
0:07:07 > 0:07:10After several hours of deliberation,
0:07:10 > 0:07:14Mikhail and his mother caved in. They accepted.
0:07:16 > 0:07:19Of course, regardless of what God wanted,
0:07:19 > 0:07:24other considerations had played a role in Mikhail's selection.
0:07:25 > 0:07:28Mikhail Romanov came from a well-established noble family.
0:07:28 > 0:07:32The family had long dynastic connections
0:07:32 > 0:07:35with the previous dynasty. His father, Filaret,
0:07:35 > 0:07:39was the nephew of the last wife of Ivan the Terrible.
0:07:39 > 0:07:45During the election of Mikhail, Filaret was in Polish captivity.
0:07:45 > 0:07:51So different groups in Russian society were satisfied with
0:07:51 > 0:07:54Mikhail's position, with his social status.
0:07:54 > 0:07:58And at the same time they thought it would be easy to manipulate him,
0:07:58 > 0:08:03because his father, who was a very influential figure, was not around.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10Under heavy protection,
0:08:10 > 0:08:13Mikhail now travelled to his coronation in Moscow.
0:08:13 > 0:08:15Here, in a lavish ceremony before the massed ranks
0:08:15 > 0:08:19of Russia's nobility and churchmen,
0:08:19 > 0:08:22he was given the all-important divine seal of approval
0:08:22 > 0:08:27at the Kremlin's Cathedral of the Assumption.
0:08:27 > 0:08:30This is the Russian equivalent of Westminster Abbey.
0:08:30 > 0:08:34All the tsars and emperors came here for their coronations.
0:08:34 > 0:08:37Mikhail Romanov was just short of 17
0:08:37 > 0:08:41when he was presented with the crown, the orb and the sceptre,
0:08:41 > 0:08:46presumably to a great big sigh of relief from the Russian people.
0:08:48 > 0:08:54PRIEST LEADS CHURCH CHOIR SINGING
0:08:58 > 0:09:02The coronation conferred absolute power on the Tsar.
0:09:04 > 0:09:08Although the different noble families and the church were keen
0:09:08 > 0:09:11to influence Mikhail, they agreed that a strong leader was essential
0:09:11 > 0:09:16to prevent the kind of chaos from which Russia had just emerged.
0:09:19 > 0:09:21And they were proved right.
0:09:24 > 0:09:27More than half a century of relative stability
0:09:27 > 0:09:29and reconstruction followed
0:09:29 > 0:09:34under Mikhail, and then his successor, his son, Alexis.
0:09:39 > 0:09:43The idea that the tsars ruled as part of a divinely ordered system
0:09:43 > 0:09:46helped justify their immense power.
0:09:48 > 0:09:53I've come to the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow to see an icon
0:09:53 > 0:09:58from the reign of Alexis which features the Tsar himself.
0:09:58 > 0:10:01Painted by an influential Russian artist, Simon Ushakov,
0:10:01 > 0:10:06it's called The Tree Of The Muscovite State.
0:10:07 > 0:10:11Philip, this picture reminds me of Jack And The Beanstalk,
0:10:11 > 0:10:15because it's got an enormous tree growing right out of the cathedral,
0:10:15 > 0:10:18that's planted in the middle of the fortress of the Kremlin.
0:10:18 > 0:10:20Yes, and the roots are common.
0:10:20 > 0:10:28You see, there's a common root for both church power and state power.
0:10:28 > 0:10:35They grow together, they act together.
0:10:35 > 0:10:38A very central idea for medieval Russia.
0:10:38 > 0:10:41And here we've got the first Archbishop of Moscow.
0:10:41 > 0:10:44The first Archbishop of Moscow. And the first Prince of Moscow.
0:10:44 > 0:10:47Planting the tree together.
0:10:47 > 0:10:50- I'm more interested in... - Yes, here's the monarch, Alexis,
0:10:50 > 0:10:53or Alexei in Russian.
0:10:53 > 0:10:57- The Tsarina, his wife.- And the two little children, look at them.
0:10:57 > 0:11:00Yes, two children.
0:11:00 > 0:11:04Where did power really lie at this point in the 17th century?
0:11:04 > 0:11:10Symbolically, it was hand-in-hand with civil power.
0:11:10 > 0:11:16But in reality, of course the civil power was much stronger,
0:11:16 > 0:11:20which is not depicted here.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23Secretly, he is the most important person in the picture.
0:11:23 > 0:11:24He is the most important.
0:11:24 > 0:11:27Of course, political power belonged to the Tsar.
0:11:31 > 0:11:35'But something else about the painting is very telling.
0:11:35 > 0:11:37'For all its beauty,
0:11:37 > 0:11:41'by Western European standards, it looks pre-Renaissance.
0:11:43 > 0:11:45'Even by the late 17th century,
0:11:45 > 0:11:50'foreign visitors considered Russia to be almost medieval,
0:11:50 > 0:11:54'and not just in its art and its religious piety.'
0:11:58 > 0:12:03Beyond the walls of Moscow lay a vast, sparsely populated,
0:12:03 > 0:12:04backward country.
0:12:04 > 0:12:09Russian territory stretched from the southern Steppes to the Arctic.
0:12:11 > 0:12:14And thousands of miles east into Siberia.
0:12:18 > 0:12:20In the late 17th century,
0:12:20 > 0:12:25Russia was 100 times the area of England and Wales.
0:12:25 > 0:12:28But it had less than twice the population.
0:12:31 > 0:12:37And this overwhelmingly rural country was hugely underdeveloped.
0:12:38 > 0:12:41Apart from churches and fortifications,
0:12:41 > 0:12:45stone buildings were virtually unknown in Russia.
0:12:51 > 0:12:56Peasant huts and clothes barely changed for hundreds of years.
0:12:57 > 0:13:01At the Museum of Wooden Architecture in Kostroma,
0:13:01 > 0:13:02they've preserved some examples.
0:13:02 > 0:13:06I'm modelling a traditional dress called a sarafan.
0:13:09 > 0:13:12While village life looks idyllic on a sunny day,
0:13:12 > 0:13:16for most of the year it was quite the opposite.
0:13:22 > 0:13:25Russia's climate was notoriously harsh.
0:13:25 > 0:13:28Imagine trudging along here through the mud in the wet,
0:13:28 > 0:13:30or the snow in winter.
0:13:30 > 0:13:34But despite the inhospitable terrain,
0:13:34 > 0:13:37the majority of Russians, right into the 19th century,
0:13:37 > 0:13:40had to scratch out a living from the land.
0:13:40 > 0:13:45They also had to cope with the social reality of serfdom.
0:13:45 > 0:13:48This was a practice that was dying out in Western Europe.
0:13:48 > 0:13:52But in 17th-century Russia, it was actually on the rise.
0:13:52 > 0:13:55And if you were somebody's serf,
0:13:55 > 0:13:59you were effectively their property, to be bought or sold.
0:14:03 > 0:14:07Agriculture was the mainstay of Russia's economy.
0:14:07 > 0:14:13And serfdom guaranteed the landowning nobility a captive workforce.
0:14:14 > 0:14:16The peasants couldn't just up and leave,
0:14:16 > 0:14:19in search of better pay or conditions elsewhere.
0:14:21 > 0:14:25Serfdom lasted and increased in the 17th century simply because
0:14:25 > 0:14:29it was found in the interests of both nobles and state to do so.
0:14:29 > 0:14:31The nobles had already established
0:14:31 > 0:14:34that they needed to have control over the movement of the serfs.
0:14:34 > 0:14:37And to some extent it was in the interest of the state as well,
0:14:37 > 0:14:41to keep people in one place, to tax them, to control them,
0:14:41 > 0:14:44and to reward the nobility for their service.
0:14:46 > 0:14:49So serfs were wealth, in a way that they weren't in the West.
0:14:49 > 0:14:51Bodies were wealth.
0:14:54 > 0:14:57But towards the end of the 17th century
0:14:57 > 0:15:00it looked like things might change.
0:15:01 > 0:15:03Russia gained a new tsar.
0:15:07 > 0:15:10Driven by an obsessive desire to modernise the country,
0:15:10 > 0:15:15he was convinced that Russia's future depended on it looking westwards,
0:15:15 > 0:15:16to Europe.
0:15:21 > 0:15:25Hey-hey-hey! Meet Peter the Great,
0:15:25 > 0:15:27or at least the next best thing,
0:15:27 > 0:15:31because this is a super-accurate wax effigy,
0:15:31 > 0:15:33made just after his death
0:15:33 > 0:15:36and using his actual death mask for the face.
0:15:36 > 0:15:41These are Peter's real clothes and that's even his real hair.
0:15:42 > 0:15:45You might be thinking, "It must be larger than life,"
0:15:45 > 0:15:48because his arms are so freakishly long,
0:15:48 > 0:15:51but, no, he was six and a half feet tall.
0:15:52 > 0:15:56ORTHODOX CHORAL SINGING
0:15:56 > 0:15:58I think he looks pretty terrifying
0:15:58 > 0:16:01and in real life he was absolutely terrifying.
0:16:03 > 0:16:06But Peter the Great was Russia's most far-sighted
0:16:06 > 0:16:08and hard-working sovereign.
0:16:12 > 0:16:16Peter's ruthlessness was a result of his traumatic childhood.
0:16:17 > 0:16:21In 1682, his accession to the throne at the age of nine
0:16:21 > 0:16:24was followed by a brief but bloody revolt.
0:16:28 > 0:16:32A faction at court regarded Peter's half-brother Ivan
0:16:32 > 0:16:33as the rightful tsar.
0:16:35 > 0:16:38When rumours spread that Ivan had been killed,
0:16:38 > 0:16:41a mob stormed into the Kremlin
0:16:41 > 0:16:44and they were led by the royal guards themselves.
0:16:47 > 0:16:48To calm the situation,
0:16:48 > 0:16:51Peter's mother walked out onto the palace balcony
0:16:51 > 0:16:53at the top of this staircase.
0:16:55 > 0:16:58She was holding hands with both Peter and Ivan,
0:16:58 > 0:17:01to prove to the mob that they were very much still alive.
0:17:07 > 0:17:11It must have been a terrifying moment for the little boys,
0:17:11 > 0:17:13for Peter and his brother.
0:17:13 > 0:17:15But when the rebels saw that they were still alive,
0:17:15 > 0:17:18everything calmed down.
0:17:18 > 0:17:20It seemed to work.
0:17:20 > 0:17:24But then, a second wave of violence came sweeping through the palace.
0:17:24 > 0:17:26The rebels came rushing up this staircase,
0:17:26 > 0:17:28and when they got to the top
0:17:28 > 0:17:33they seized the family's closest advisors and leading noblemen
0:17:33 > 0:17:37and they threw them down over that balustrade so they fell
0:17:37 > 0:17:42and were impaled upon the spears of the guards below.
0:17:44 > 0:17:47Eventually, the rebels agreed a compromise,
0:17:47 > 0:17:51but not before they'd slaughtered two of Peter's uncles.
0:17:53 > 0:17:56Peter would have to wait for his revenge.
0:17:58 > 0:18:01The revolt left Peter with a loathing of Moscow.
0:18:03 > 0:18:05As soon as he could get away,
0:18:05 > 0:18:06he did.
0:18:25 > 0:18:29This is Lake Pleshcheyevo, 90 miles north of the capital.
0:18:32 > 0:18:37And it's on these waters that the teenage Peter felt truly at home.
0:18:44 > 0:18:50So where did Peter the Great get his very un-Russian passion for sailing?
0:18:50 > 0:18:52Well, he discovered an old boat
0:18:52 > 0:18:56lying around on one of the royal estates near Moscow.
0:18:56 > 0:18:58But in order to learn how to use it,
0:18:58 > 0:19:00he had to come up here to the nice big lake,
0:19:00 > 0:19:03where he could get up some speed.
0:19:03 > 0:19:07And it was on the waters of this lake that a new vision
0:19:07 > 0:19:12of the future of Russia began to take shape in Peter's mind.
0:19:18 > 0:19:21Peter took every opportunity to come up to the lake.
0:19:24 > 0:19:26He employed foreign experts to teach him
0:19:26 > 0:19:29not just how to sail the boats, but how to build them.
0:19:34 > 0:19:38This is the only survivor of Peter the Great's flotilla of little boats
0:19:38 > 0:19:42that he had made here on the shores of Lake Pleshcheyevo.
0:19:42 > 0:19:45He and his friends would go out onto the water
0:19:45 > 0:19:49and amuse themselves with mock sea battles.
0:19:49 > 0:19:53The small ships became known as Peter's "toy navy",
0:19:53 > 0:19:57but his ambition went much further than simply messing about with boats.
0:20:08 > 0:20:13Peter realised that if Russia was to have prosperity, security
0:20:13 > 0:20:17and influence in the wider world, then it needed to be powerful at sea.
0:20:21 > 0:20:24There's a saying that a ruler with an army has one hand,
0:20:24 > 0:20:27but a ruler with a navy has two.
0:20:27 > 0:20:31Whether or not this saying really was coined by Peter the Great,
0:20:31 > 0:20:33there's no question that he believed it.
0:20:38 > 0:20:41European powers like the English and the Dutch
0:20:41 > 0:20:43were making fortunes from maritime trade.
0:20:46 > 0:20:50But, despite its size, Russia was effectively landlocked.
0:20:50 > 0:20:53It had just the one proper seaport, in the far north,
0:20:53 > 0:20:56and that was frozen up for half the year.
0:20:59 > 0:21:02More urgently, Russia's two most threatening neighbours,
0:21:02 > 0:21:08Sweden to the west and Turkey to the south, both had formidable navies.
0:21:11 > 0:21:13Russia needed a fleet of its own.
0:21:15 > 0:21:17It needed maritime expertise.
0:21:19 > 0:21:22It needed a major new seaport
0:21:22 > 0:21:25that could be its gateway to the world.
0:21:27 > 0:21:32Peter the Great made it his mission to get these things for Russia.
0:21:36 > 0:21:40And to fulfil that mission he took an extraordinary step.
0:21:47 > 0:21:49In 1697,
0:21:49 > 0:21:54at the age of 24, Peter left his kingdom in the hands of his advisors
0:21:54 > 0:21:58and set off to spend a gap year in Europe.
0:21:58 > 0:22:00Here he was to study shipbuilding
0:22:00 > 0:22:03and the latest developments in maritime science.
0:22:07 > 0:22:10The journey became known as Peter's Grand Embassy.
0:22:13 > 0:22:17He spent several months in Holland, working in a shipyard.
0:22:17 > 0:22:19HAMMERING AND SAWING
0:22:26 > 0:22:31Then, early in 1698, Peter and his entourage pitched up in London.
0:22:35 > 0:22:37And one of the first places he visited
0:22:37 > 0:22:40was the Royal Observatory at Greenwich.
0:22:50 > 0:22:54Here at the Observatory, Peter the Great was shown around
0:22:54 > 0:22:58by John Flamsteed, the first Astronomer Royal.
0:22:58 > 0:23:02Together, they looked through a telescope at the planet of Venus.
0:23:02 > 0:23:05But this wasn't just sightseeing.
0:23:05 > 0:23:09Peter wanted to check out Britain's first purpose-built
0:23:09 > 0:23:12scientific research facility.
0:23:12 > 0:23:15It's hard to think of a building that could have appealed to Peter more.
0:23:15 > 0:23:19It had the express purpose of using astronomy
0:23:19 > 0:23:21to improve navigation at sea.
0:23:31 > 0:23:33Over the coming months,
0:23:33 > 0:23:37Peter gorged himself on the best of English science and technology.
0:23:40 > 0:23:46He visited the Royal Society, the Royal Mint and the Tower of London,
0:23:46 > 0:23:50Oxford University and the cannon foundry at the Woolwich Arsenal.
0:23:53 > 0:23:54During his time in London,
0:23:54 > 0:23:58Peter the Great stayed just around the bend in the river from Greenwich,
0:23:58 > 0:23:59at Deptford.
0:23:59 > 0:24:02He liked it there, cos it was near the shipyards
0:24:02 > 0:24:05and he was spotted joining in the work.
0:24:05 > 0:24:09It was said that, "The Tsar of Muscovy works with his own hands
0:24:09 > 0:24:11"as hard as any man in the yard."
0:24:11 > 0:24:14But Peter wasn't your regular shipbuilder.
0:24:14 > 0:24:16He was the special guest of King William III,
0:24:16 > 0:24:19who now gave him a special gift.
0:24:19 > 0:24:21It was the ultimate boy's toy,
0:24:21 > 0:24:26a modern, high-speed ship called the Royal Transport.
0:24:29 > 0:24:34One of several English royal yachts, the ship was a fairly naked bribe.
0:24:37 > 0:24:41William saw Russia as a lucrative potential trading partner.
0:24:47 > 0:24:51Peter soon befriended the ship's designer, the Marquess of Carmarthen.
0:24:53 > 0:24:58And this marquess also shared another much-loved hobby of the young Tsar's.
0:24:59 > 0:25:01This man who designed the ship,
0:25:01 > 0:25:03he and Peter became drinking buddies, didn't they?
0:25:03 > 0:25:06I think they really found sort of kindred spirits in each other.
0:25:06 > 0:25:08The became very close and spent a lot of time together
0:25:08 > 0:25:12during Peter's visit and, yes, drinking was a big part of that.
0:25:12 > 0:25:14Well, I think we know what their favourite tipple was.
0:25:14 > 0:25:20- Brandy laced with peppers. - That's an interesting idea.- Indeed.
0:25:20 > 0:25:22Let's see what that tastes like.
0:25:24 > 0:25:26Probably fair to say that
0:25:26 > 0:25:30the English couldn't teach the Russians much about drinking.
0:25:30 > 0:25:32- LUCY LAUGHS - But at the same time,
0:25:32 > 0:25:36Carmarthen did actually introduce Peter to this drink.
0:25:37 > 0:25:41- So this is the special drink of the shipbuilders of Deptford?- Indeed.
0:25:41 > 0:25:44- And Peter the Great got a taste for it?- Yes.- OK.
0:25:44 > 0:25:46Pepper-flavoured brandy.
0:25:48 > 0:25:50Ugh, that's foul.
0:25:50 > 0:25:52That's really not very nice at all.
0:25:52 > 0:25:55- Oh, you... You swallowed that!- Oh, actually...!
0:25:55 > 0:25:56THEY LAUGH
0:25:56 > 0:25:59That's not as bad as I was expecting.
0:26:01 > 0:26:03When Peter and his friends were in London,
0:26:03 > 0:26:06they were staying in Deptford on the river,
0:26:06 > 0:26:08they got up to some other naughty tricks, didn't they?
0:26:08 > 0:26:10They certainly did, and they were described
0:26:10 > 0:26:14by one of the Sayes Court servants where they were staying
0:26:14 > 0:26:16as being right nasty in their behaviour.
0:26:16 > 0:26:19They basically trashed the place completely.
0:26:19 > 0:26:22They used portraits and paintings as target practice,
0:26:22 > 0:26:25they burned all the chairs as firewood,
0:26:25 > 0:26:28they destroyed the furniture, tore up the beds,
0:26:28 > 0:26:30knocked a hole in the wall
0:26:30 > 0:26:33so Peter could get out to the river easily,
0:26:33 > 0:26:35and they used to race wheelbarrows
0:26:35 > 0:26:38with people inside them through the hedges.
0:26:38 > 0:26:41Is that because they hadn't seen wheelbarrows before?
0:26:41 > 0:26:42That's exactly right, yes.
0:26:42 > 0:26:46These were entirely new to them, so this was seen as a great sport.
0:26:46 > 0:26:49Peter is beginning to sound like he's a complete mass of contradictions.
0:26:49 > 0:26:52- Is that fair?- I think it is.
0:26:52 > 0:26:55We see on the one hand his scientific interests,
0:26:55 > 0:26:57and alongside that
0:26:57 > 0:26:59he's behaving like a complete lunatic.
0:27:01 > 0:27:06During his year in Europe, Peter not only acquired a royal yacht,
0:27:06 > 0:27:10he also purchased several shiploads of the latest maritime equipment.
0:27:11 > 0:27:14And who knows - maybe a few wheelbarrows
0:27:14 > 0:27:16to remind him of good times in Deptford.
0:27:18 > 0:27:20He hired European shipbuilders
0:27:20 > 0:27:23and sailors to bring their expertise to Russia
0:27:23 > 0:27:25and to teach the skills that
0:27:25 > 0:27:29he and his retinue had learned for themselves in Holland and England.
0:27:31 > 0:27:37Peter also got a feel for life in prosperous, modern European cities.
0:27:37 > 0:27:40He saw how their citizens behaved,
0:27:40 > 0:27:43where they lived, how they dressed.
0:27:43 > 0:27:47The contrast with his superstitious, conservative homeland
0:27:47 > 0:27:49couldn't have been more marked.
0:27:51 > 0:27:55And, as if to underline the point, in August 1698
0:27:55 > 0:27:58he was forced to hurry back to Moscow.
0:28:02 > 0:28:04The palace guards had rebelled again.
0:28:12 > 0:28:15The revolt was quickly crushed
0:28:15 > 0:28:18and this time there were no deals or compromises -
0:28:18 > 0:28:22Peter was merciless in his retribution.
0:28:22 > 0:28:27He had more than a thousand of his guards beheaded or hanged.
0:28:27 > 0:28:30Hundreds more were tortured, flogged and banished.
0:28:32 > 0:28:35The fate of the guards, known in Russian as the Streltsy,
0:28:35 > 0:28:39is depicted in this picture by Vasily Surikov,
0:28:39 > 0:28:43one of the great Russian history painters of the 19th century.
0:28:45 > 0:28:50This is Red Square on the morning of the execution of the Streltsy.
0:28:50 > 0:28:55You know which ones they are, because they have immensely long beards
0:28:55 > 0:28:56and they're in their shirts,
0:28:56 > 0:28:59because their uniforms have been stripped off them.
0:29:01 > 0:29:04And each of them is holding a little candle.
0:29:04 > 0:29:08That's his life that's about to be snuffed out.
0:29:08 > 0:29:10All the rest of the people here,
0:29:10 > 0:29:14and there's a huge mass of humanity, are their families.
0:29:14 > 0:29:17He's got his wife weeping on his lap
0:29:17 > 0:29:22and that must be his little boy who's crying on his knee.
0:29:22 > 0:29:25There's a huge amount of suffering going on.
0:29:25 > 0:29:28You'd think that somebody would take pity, but no.
0:29:28 > 0:29:31Here's the man in charge, Peter the Great,
0:29:31 > 0:29:34and he is implacable, look at him.
0:29:38 > 0:29:41He's saying this lot are absolutely going
0:29:41 > 0:29:43to that gallows in the background.
0:29:48 > 0:29:51And the reason that Peter is so determined
0:29:51 > 0:29:55is that he was once the weeping little boy himself.
0:29:58 > 0:30:02These are the men who murdered Peter's own uncles.
0:30:05 > 0:30:08But the real message of the picture
0:30:08 > 0:30:11is that the Streltsy represent the old Russia.
0:30:11 > 0:30:15They're messy and dirty and superstitious
0:30:15 > 0:30:18and Peter the Great is the wind of change.
0:30:18 > 0:30:21He's going to sweep them all away.
0:30:24 > 0:30:28Peter's next move was to quash any lingering opposition to his rule.
0:30:30 > 0:30:33He was convinced that the rebellion had been orchestrated
0:30:33 > 0:30:35by his half-sister Sophia.
0:30:40 > 0:30:43He didn't execute Sophia,
0:30:43 > 0:30:46but he did what was considered the next best thing.
0:30:47 > 0:30:50He forced her to become a nun...
0:30:51 > 0:30:55..and spend the rest of her life largely in solitary confinement,
0:30:55 > 0:30:58here at the Novodevichy Convent in Moscow.
0:31:05 > 0:31:10But, initially at least, Peter did provide Sophia with some company.
0:31:12 > 0:31:15He strung up the corpses of the Streltsy rebels
0:31:15 > 0:31:17right outside her windows.
0:31:20 > 0:31:23Peter now turned to the Moscow elite.
0:31:23 > 0:31:25These were the same class of people
0:31:25 > 0:31:28who put the Romanovs on the throne nearly 90 years before.
0:31:29 > 0:31:33But Peter considered them to be reactionary and lazy.
0:31:33 > 0:31:37It was time they caught up with the present day.
0:31:37 > 0:31:40Peter decided that the best way to make them behave
0:31:40 > 0:31:44like modern Europeans was to make them look like modern Europeans.
0:31:46 > 0:31:48This is rather good, isn't it?
0:31:48 > 0:31:52A bit tsar-ish, a bit furry, a bit velvety too.
0:31:52 > 0:31:53Very nice.
0:31:58 > 0:32:01To see just how revolutionary this was,
0:32:01 > 0:32:04I've come to the famous Mosfilm Studios in Moscow.
0:32:07 > 0:32:11Many a historical epic has been filmed here.
0:32:11 > 0:32:14And, while I admire the vast costume department,
0:32:14 > 0:32:16our translator, Misha, has volunteered
0:32:16 > 0:32:20to model some traditional Russian clothes,
0:32:20 > 0:32:24to show what Peter's new rules on dress actually meant.
0:32:24 > 0:32:28Misha, you've been quite a long time in there - are you ready?
0:32:28 > 0:32:31- I think I am. - Let's have a look, then.
0:32:31 > 0:32:33Oh, look at you! Come out.
0:32:33 > 0:32:35SHE CHUCKLES
0:32:35 > 0:32:38- You look like a lovely little tsar. - Well, I am.
0:32:38 > 0:32:40You're dressed for the 17th century,
0:32:40 > 0:32:43- you're warm for the Moscow winters, I guess.- Absolutely.
0:32:43 > 0:32:46And, um, is it practical? Can you move about in this one?
0:32:46 > 0:32:49Of course it's practical, because this is how people were dressed.
0:32:49 > 0:32:54- Yes.- It also is a little bit not really European.
0:32:54 > 0:32:58- Let's see your boots. - Maybe somewhat Oriental.- Sexy.
0:32:58 > 0:33:01- Oh, are they? - Very nice, yes.- Thank you.
0:33:01 > 0:33:04Yes, you do have a touch of the Orient about you, looking at you.
0:33:04 > 0:33:06Oh, I would say it's old Russian style...
0:33:06 > 0:33:08- Old Russian style, yes. - ..rather than Oriental.
0:33:08 > 0:33:11It could have some influence of the Orient,
0:33:11 > 0:33:15just like a lot of old Russian architecture, for example, does.
0:33:15 > 0:33:18- Yeah.- So the clothing also may reflect that.- Yes, yes.
0:33:18 > 0:33:20So along comes Peter the Great at the end of the 17th century
0:33:20 > 0:33:23and he doesn't want to see his subjects dressed like this any more,
0:33:23 > 0:33:26- he wants to see them as Europeans. - Absolutely.
0:33:26 > 0:33:29And the first thing to go, I'm sorry to say, is...
0:33:29 > 0:33:31- Don't!- ..the beard!- Now, don't,
0:33:31 > 0:33:34because the beard for every old Russian...
0:33:34 > 0:33:37- Very important?- ..is a sacred thing. - Right, yeah.
0:33:37 > 0:33:39It's a very religious thing.
0:33:39 > 0:33:42- Yes.- And the people in those days
0:33:42 > 0:33:45said that a man without a beard is naked.
0:33:45 > 0:33:47But Peter the Great, he'd been to Europe,
0:33:47 > 0:33:49he'd seen all of these clean-shaven people
0:33:49 > 0:33:52and he thought it was very important that his subjects should lose
0:33:52 > 0:33:55the beards, so there's stories of him ripping them out by the roots.
0:33:55 > 0:33:58- Is this possible?- Well, you can try, of course, but he wouldn't...
0:33:58 > 0:34:00That's going to hurt you.
0:34:00 > 0:34:02He wouldn't rip them off, but he cut them with an axe,
0:34:02 > 0:34:04that's what the legend says.
0:34:04 > 0:34:08Now, I actually know the secret of getting your beard off you.
0:34:08 > 0:34:09Are you ready for this, Misha?
0:34:09 > 0:34:14- I don't know.- Come on, take it like a man!- I am afraid!
0:34:14 > 0:34:15Whee!
0:34:15 > 0:34:17Argh!
0:34:17 > 0:34:20HE GROANS You're laughing?
0:34:20 > 0:34:23I am laughing, I've still got my moustache, it's not that bad yet.
0:34:23 > 0:34:25- No, you haven't!- Oh, no!
0:34:27 > 0:34:30Now, we've Europeanised your facial hair.
0:34:30 > 0:34:33Peter the Great would also have wanted to change your clothes, wouldn't he?
0:34:33 > 0:34:38Yeah, he didn't stop with the beards just - he went the full way.
0:34:38 > 0:34:39Go on, back into your cubicle.
0:34:44 > 0:34:46Ta-dum!
0:34:46 > 0:34:48Very good, fantastic!
0:34:49 > 0:34:52Oh, fantastic!
0:34:52 > 0:34:54So here you are, all European-ed up.
0:34:54 > 0:34:57Now, it strikes me that your shoes are better for dancing,
0:34:57 > 0:35:01but not so good for walking across a snowy plain.
0:35:01 > 0:35:05Absolutely right. For snow, this is horrible.
0:35:05 > 0:35:07I would freeze my feet off.
0:35:07 > 0:35:10And how are you feeling about it as a Russian nobleman?
0:35:10 > 0:35:12I, for one, am extremely unhappy,
0:35:12 > 0:35:16- because I was used to my warm, good Russian clothes...- Yes.
0:35:16 > 0:35:18- ..where I can wander around. - In the snow.
0:35:18 > 0:35:21In the snow, without doing a single thing,
0:35:21 > 0:35:24just direct my hundreds of thousands of serfs
0:35:24 > 0:35:28- and do nothing.- Are you feeling a bit draughty in the chin department?
0:35:28 > 0:35:30Absolutely naked, Lucy.
0:35:30 > 0:35:35And what can you do about this as an early-18th-century nobleman?
0:35:35 > 0:35:39Well, the thing is that the noblemen had really no choice.
0:35:39 > 0:35:42The clergy and the people in the fields, the peasants,
0:35:42 > 0:35:46as they were called at the time, they continued having beards.
0:35:46 > 0:35:49They could actually pay for their beards
0:35:49 > 0:35:52and there is a little token here
0:35:52 > 0:35:58and it shows that I have paid... or whoever...paid a beard tax.
0:35:58 > 0:36:02Once you wear it around your neck to show that you have paid for it,
0:36:02 > 0:36:06you can have your proud Russian beard.
0:36:06 > 0:36:08A tiny little beard on it, look at that.
0:36:10 > 0:36:12I think that there's something that I owe you,
0:36:12 > 0:36:14as you're clearly a beard taxpayer.
0:36:17 > 0:36:20- You can have your beard back. - Oh, thank you!
0:36:20 > 0:36:23- Thank you so much. - Enjoy your facial hair.
0:36:23 > 0:36:25Do svidaniya.
0:36:35 > 0:36:37And all this applied to the ladies too.
0:36:38 > 0:36:40Although they're said to have enjoyed
0:36:40 > 0:36:44wearing their elegant European dresses rather more than the men did.
0:36:48 > 0:36:54Peter's assault on the traditions of old Moscow left the capital reeling.
0:36:54 > 0:36:59But the Tsar was already planning what was to be his boldest move yet.
0:37:01 > 0:37:05In 1703, Peter packed up and left Moscow once again.
0:37:09 > 0:37:13- ANNOUNCER:- 'Dear passengers, please prepare your tickets to be checked
0:37:13 > 0:37:16'and listen to the information announcements.'
0:37:23 > 0:37:26Peter was leading a military expedition west,
0:37:26 > 0:37:30towards the Gulf of Finland, the gateway to the Baltic Sea.
0:37:33 > 0:37:37On the high-speed train, it takes me less than four hours.
0:37:37 > 0:37:40On horseback, though, it took Peter weeks.
0:37:45 > 0:37:49He was venturing into barely chartered territory,
0:37:49 > 0:37:53swamplands with just a few isolated fishing settlements.
0:37:57 > 0:38:00Most dangerously of all, this was land claimed by Sweden,
0:38:00 > 0:38:03the most powerful country in the Baltic region.
0:38:07 > 0:38:10It was when Peter reached the banks of the Neva River
0:38:10 > 0:38:13that the objective of the exercise became clear.
0:38:18 > 0:38:22Peter had found his gateway to the sea,
0:38:22 > 0:38:26the ground zero of a new maritime Russia.
0:38:28 > 0:38:31Legend has it that this is pretty much the exact spot
0:38:31 > 0:38:34where Peter the Great got off his horse
0:38:34 > 0:38:37and declared, "Here will be a city."
0:38:37 > 0:38:42Luckily, there was even an eagle hovering over his head as he spoke
0:38:42 > 0:38:45to make it even more like an epic Bible story.
0:38:45 > 0:38:50And Peter did have Pharaoh-like powers over his subjects.
0:38:50 > 0:38:56He was able to bend his serfs, his nobles and even nature to his will.
0:38:56 > 0:38:58So, with frightening speed,
0:38:58 > 0:39:02what had been a mosquito-ridden marshland over there
0:39:02 > 0:39:05was turned into this great city.
0:39:08 > 0:39:10ORTHODOX CHORAL SINGING
0:39:16 > 0:39:20Peter christened his city St Petersburg
0:39:20 > 0:39:23and it would become the home of the Romanov dynasty,
0:39:23 > 0:39:26eclipsing Moscow for more than two centuries.
0:39:29 > 0:39:33The first building Peter constructed was the Peter and Paul Fortress.
0:39:35 > 0:39:38St Petersburg began as a military base,
0:39:38 > 0:39:41because Peter had declared war on Sweden.
0:39:43 > 0:39:45The timing seemed right.
0:39:47 > 0:39:51Sweden had a new and teenage king, Charles XII,
0:39:51 > 0:39:55and Peter hoped to take advantage of Charles's inexperience
0:39:55 > 0:39:57to establish Russia as a Baltic power.
0:40:01 > 0:40:03I think there was the thought
0:40:03 > 0:40:07that the young Charles XII might prove an easier target
0:40:07 > 0:40:10than his more celebrated ancestors had done,
0:40:10 > 0:40:13but it was still quite a risky project to take on.
0:40:13 > 0:40:16There was no sense that Sweden was in any sense a declining power
0:40:16 > 0:40:18and, of course, behind Sweden -
0:40:18 > 0:40:21this was the crucial Swedish advantage -
0:40:21 > 0:40:23lay the diplomatic power of Louis XIV,
0:40:23 > 0:40:26the greatest international power of all.
0:40:26 > 0:40:29The Swedes were French clients in diplomacy,
0:40:29 > 0:40:31so it was certainly risky to try anything on.
0:40:34 > 0:40:37War with Sweden gave Peter the excuse
0:40:37 > 0:40:40to fulfil perhaps the longest-held of all his dreams.
0:40:42 > 0:40:44With its easy access to the Baltic Sea,
0:40:44 > 0:40:48St Petersburg became the base for Peter's next grand project...
0:40:49 > 0:40:51..the building of a navy.
0:40:56 > 0:40:59Hello! Are you Captain Vladimir?
0:40:59 > 0:41:03- Hello. Welcome on board Shtandart. - Ah, thank you!- May I help you in?
0:41:03 > 0:41:06A fine ship, the Shtandart.
0:41:06 > 0:41:08Thank you very much.
0:41:08 > 0:41:10- Please come on board.- Thank you.
0:41:10 > 0:41:13Let's have a look. Guns, cannons, ropes.
0:41:18 > 0:41:22This is a replica of Peter the Great's flagship frigate,
0:41:22 > 0:41:25his pride and joy,
0:41:25 > 0:41:26the Shtandart.
0:41:28 > 0:41:32Peter sailed in the 1703 original himself.
0:41:32 > 0:41:34It was modelled on the Royal Transport,
0:41:34 > 0:41:37the English ship he was given by William III.
0:41:39 > 0:41:41Stand by for departure.
0:41:45 > 0:41:48The Shtandart was the biggest of ten ships
0:41:48 > 0:41:51that Peter managed to build in just five months.
0:41:54 > 0:41:56As the war with Sweden escalated,
0:41:56 > 0:42:00the fleet had to be constructed at breakneck speed.
0:42:01 > 0:42:03She's brave!
0:42:03 > 0:42:04Oh!
0:42:06 > 0:42:09SHE GASPS What's the word for "fantastic"?
0:42:09 > 0:42:11- Fantastic.- Fantastic!
0:42:21 > 0:42:25Now Peter's time in the shipyards of Amsterdam and London really paid off.
0:42:26 > 0:42:30He set his imported Dutch and English experts to work,
0:42:30 > 0:42:33alongside Russians who'd learned shipbuilding
0:42:33 > 0:42:34during the Grand Embassy.
0:42:38 > 0:42:43Above all, it was probably Peter's own hands-on involvement
0:42:43 > 0:42:47that ensured the Shtandart was completed so quickly.
0:42:47 > 0:42:49- Midships now.- Yes, Captain Vladimir.
0:42:53 > 0:42:55Peter's new and untested navy
0:42:55 > 0:42:58would be like David taking on the Swedish Goliath.
0:42:59 > 0:43:02The Shtandart had to be more powerful
0:43:02 > 0:43:06and more manoeuvrable than anything the Swedes could muster.
0:43:11 > 0:43:16Captain Vladimir, in 1703, when the Shtandart was completed,
0:43:16 > 0:43:18was she a very state-of-the-art vessel?
0:43:18 > 0:43:21For that time, the steering wheel
0:43:21 > 0:43:24was a kind of technological innovation, very advanced.
0:43:24 > 0:43:27The steering wheel came on the stage in 1700, 1701.
0:43:27 > 0:43:28Oh! Not very long before...
0:43:28 > 0:43:32In 1703, the Russian fleet was equipped with a steering wheel,
0:43:32 > 0:43:35which made ships very manoeuvrable
0:43:35 > 0:43:39and very well controlled, so that was something very special,
0:43:39 > 0:43:43and artillery, the cannons were very powerful. That was six-pounders
0:43:43 > 0:43:47- and, for a ship of that size, that is quite powerful cannons.- Yes.
0:43:48 > 0:43:52What was it like, then, when Peter the Great and his crew were sailing?
0:43:52 > 0:43:54Who would be here? What would be happening?
0:43:54 > 0:44:00150 people, 28 cannons, four persons per cannon,
0:44:00 > 0:44:03so they would be standing by next to the cannons,
0:44:03 > 0:44:06and the sailors, they would have to operate all sails at once,
0:44:06 > 0:44:11so in battle, during the manoeuvres, the sailors would be standing by
0:44:11 > 0:44:15on lines for bracing the yards, for hoisting sails, for shaking sails.
0:44:18 > 0:44:22'Peter was gambling that his new ships and their crews
0:44:22 > 0:44:25'would give the Swedes a nasty surprise, and they did.'
0:44:25 > 0:44:26Ready for attack!
0:44:29 > 0:44:31The Shtandart soon saw action,
0:44:31 > 0:44:34exchanging fire with Swedish warships
0:44:34 > 0:44:37while defending Kronstadt... CANNONS BOOM
0:44:37 > 0:44:41..the Russian naval base in the Gulf of Finland.
0:44:41 > 0:44:42Over the next six years,
0:44:42 > 0:44:46in what became known as the Great Northern War,
0:44:46 > 0:44:47Peter used sea and land forces
0:44:47 > 0:44:51to consolidate his position in the Baltic region.
0:44:51 > 0:44:55On several occasions, he led his own men into battle.
0:44:59 > 0:45:00Do you admire him?
0:45:00 > 0:45:03He's my hero, and that is because he was thinking
0:45:03 > 0:45:07more about the country, not about himself.
0:45:07 > 0:45:11His own wealth was not that important.
0:45:11 > 0:45:16His life has a really clear target, goal and mission.
0:45:18 > 0:45:23The Great Northern War dragged on for two decades
0:45:23 > 0:45:26and in the early years Peter was sorely tested.
0:45:27 > 0:45:31Charles XII of Sweden may have been young,
0:45:31 > 0:45:34but he proved to be a formidable military commander.
0:45:36 > 0:45:38Charles was preoccupied with war.
0:45:38 > 0:45:41War was his main passion.
0:45:41 > 0:45:43Peter was also very interested in war
0:45:43 > 0:45:47and there is an argument that all reforms initiated by Peter
0:45:47 > 0:45:51were actually dictated by his interest in war,
0:45:51 > 0:45:55so we have two figures who had a very strong interest in war,
0:45:55 > 0:45:59a very deep sense of involvement in international affairs,
0:45:59 > 0:46:02so the conflict was unavoidable.
0:46:07 > 0:46:12Despite the length of the war, Peter's decisive battle with Charles
0:46:12 > 0:46:15came as early as 1709,
0:46:15 > 0:46:17and it wasn't at sea,
0:46:17 > 0:46:21it was hundreds of miles inland, at Poltava in the Ukraine.
0:46:25 > 0:46:28The viciousness of the battle is captured
0:46:28 > 0:46:31in this 18th-century mural in St Petersburg.
0:46:32 > 0:46:36As you get closer, you realise that it's a mosaic.
0:46:37 > 0:46:41It was painstakingly assembled from thousands of tiny pieces
0:46:41 > 0:46:47of stained glass by an artist and scientist called Mikhail Lomonosov.
0:46:53 > 0:46:57Here is Peter the Great with his very distinctive mullet haircut,
0:46:57 > 0:47:01and he's got his sword out, ready to cut the heads off some Swedes,
0:47:01 > 0:47:07and he's leading the troops in person, as he did in 1709.
0:47:07 > 0:47:10The leader at the other side
0:47:10 > 0:47:15is King Charles XII of Sweden up there. He's riding in a sedan chair,
0:47:15 > 0:47:18because he'd hurt his foot before the battle.
0:47:18 > 0:47:21You might also notice that he's much, much, much smaller
0:47:21 > 0:47:23than Peter the Great in this image.
0:47:27 > 0:47:30And in this little scene a blood-thirsty Russian,
0:47:30 > 0:47:32showing his white teeth,
0:47:32 > 0:47:35is about to skewer this poor Swede with his sword.
0:47:37 > 0:47:39It was a decisive victory for the Russians,
0:47:39 > 0:47:42but not just because of their bravery.
0:47:42 > 0:47:45They also completely outnumbered the Swedes.
0:47:45 > 0:47:48SHOUTING AND GUNFIRE
0:47:53 > 0:47:57Poltava was a pivotal battle for Peter the Great,
0:47:57 > 0:48:00because it allowed Russia to overtake Sweden
0:48:00 > 0:48:03to become the dominant power in Baltic Europe.
0:48:07 > 0:48:10The security of St Petersburg was now assured.
0:48:12 > 0:48:17And in 1712, just three years after his victory at Poltava,
0:48:17 > 0:48:21Peter made St Petersburg the new capital of Russia.
0:48:25 > 0:48:29The city had grown rapidly in its first decade.
0:48:29 > 0:48:32Large numbers of nobles and wealthy citizens
0:48:32 > 0:48:35had relocated there from Moscow,
0:48:35 > 0:48:37not out of choice - Peter had demanded it.
0:48:42 > 0:48:49With its canals and stone buildings, resembling Venice or Amsterdam,
0:48:49 > 0:48:53St Petersburg presented foreign visitors with Peter's vision
0:48:53 > 0:48:56of a modern, Europeanised Russia,
0:48:56 > 0:49:00one full of thriving commerce and rational order.
0:49:05 > 0:49:08But the great irony was that the city only existed
0:49:08 > 0:49:13because of Peter's autocratic and despotic powers
0:49:13 > 0:49:16and because of the medieval institution of serfdom,
0:49:16 > 0:49:19which he actually reinforced.
0:49:23 > 0:49:27Thousands of serfs and forced labourers perished
0:49:27 > 0:49:29while constructing his new capital.
0:49:31 > 0:49:32It's famously said, of course,
0:49:32 > 0:49:36that St Petersburg was a city built on human bones
0:49:36 > 0:49:39and there's no doubt that it was an extraordinary business
0:49:39 > 0:49:41to get it off the ground, because most of the ground
0:49:41 > 0:49:44was totally unsuitable for building on it.
0:49:44 > 0:49:50It's a swamp. The climate is very severe, the ground is very damp,
0:49:50 > 0:49:53so a vast effort had to be put in by the state,
0:49:53 > 0:49:56by the troops and by the state peasantry
0:49:56 > 0:50:00in order to achieve what Peter wanted to achieve.
0:50:01 > 0:50:04St Petersburg was built at enormous human cost,
0:50:04 > 0:50:07so much so that it's almost obscene to discuss
0:50:07 > 0:50:11whether it was worth it or not. We don't know how many people died.
0:50:11 > 0:50:13It could have been up to 100,000.
0:50:13 > 0:50:18What we do know is that every year 40,000 peasants were conscripted
0:50:18 > 0:50:19to work on St Petersburg.
0:50:19 > 0:50:21Now, some of them may not have arrived.
0:50:21 > 0:50:23They may have fled before they got there,
0:50:23 > 0:50:26they may have fled into the forests once they're in St Petersburg,
0:50:26 > 0:50:29but the population of the city itself rose very slowly,
0:50:29 > 0:50:33so I think we have to assume that many of those peasants died.
0:50:38 > 0:50:42Peter's ruthlessness didn't stop at the palace gates.
0:50:45 > 0:50:48When he got bored of his first wife, Evdokiya,
0:50:48 > 0:50:51he packed her off to the convent in Moscow.
0:50:57 > 0:51:01With her love of hard drinking and dwarf entertainers,
0:51:01 > 0:51:03Evdokiya's replacement, Catherine,
0:51:03 > 0:51:06was far more to Peter's taste.
0:51:10 > 0:51:14Peter's eldest son, and his putative successor, Alexei,
0:51:14 > 0:51:17presented a more intractable problem.
0:51:19 > 0:51:23Now in his 20s, Alexei seemed incapable of
0:51:23 > 0:51:27and uninterested in following in his father's footsteps.
0:51:35 > 0:51:39Peter was willing to give Alexei one last chance.
0:51:39 > 0:51:41He wrote him a letter full of admonitions
0:51:41 > 0:51:44telling Alexei to get his act together
0:51:44 > 0:51:48and if Alexei failed, well, then Peter had a threat to make -
0:51:48 > 0:51:52"I will cut you off like a gangrenous member,
0:51:52 > 0:51:57"for if I have not spared myself in the service of our country,
0:51:57 > 0:51:59"why should I spare you?"
0:52:06 > 0:52:11In 1716, poor old Alexei fled Russia for Vienna.
0:52:12 > 0:52:17Peter was furious. He suspected a conspiracy.
0:52:17 > 0:52:20He knew that elements of the nobility
0:52:20 > 0:52:24resented the way he'd unilaterally declared war on Sweden
0:52:24 > 0:52:27and moved the court to St Petersburg.
0:52:27 > 0:52:30Might they now be rallying around his son?
0:52:32 > 0:52:35Peter enticed Alexei back to St Petersburg.
0:52:35 > 0:52:37He promised him clemency.
0:52:39 > 0:52:42But then he had him locked up.
0:52:44 > 0:52:49Here at the fortress, Alexei was interrogated under torture.
0:52:49 > 0:52:52He was whipped, and when his back was all covered in blood
0:52:52 > 0:52:54he admitted, as anybody would do,
0:52:54 > 0:52:58that he HAD conspired and plotted against his father.
0:52:58 > 0:53:02A court sentenced poor Alexei to execution,
0:53:02 > 0:53:07but before this could happen he was discovered mysteriously dead.
0:53:07 > 0:53:11Some people think that this was the effects of the torture,
0:53:11 > 0:53:12others, that he'd been poisoned,
0:53:12 > 0:53:16in order to spare Peter the Great the humiliation
0:53:16 > 0:53:19of having to publicly execute his own son.
0:53:31 > 0:53:36Every single day at noon, a gun fires from the Peter and Paul Fortress.
0:53:37 > 0:53:41This tradition stretches right back to the early days of St Petersburg,
0:53:41 > 0:53:44when cannon shots served as a warning of floods
0:53:44 > 0:53:46or marked important state occasions.
0:53:49 > 0:53:53In 1725, Peter the Great heard the sound for the last time.
0:53:53 > 0:53:56Odin, dva, tri, chetyre, pyat', ogon'!
0:53:56 > 0:53:59LOUD BANG
0:54:05 > 0:54:10He took ill and died on February 8th.
0:54:10 > 0:54:14An autopsy reveals that Peter had gangrene at the bladder.
0:54:16 > 0:54:18He was just 52.
0:54:18 > 0:54:21Russia had lost more than a tsar.
0:54:21 > 0:54:25Just three years earlier, on the back of his Baltic conquests,
0:54:25 > 0:54:27Peter had been proclaimed Emperor.
0:54:29 > 0:54:34The Russian Empire would now last as long as the Romanov dynasty itself.
0:54:39 > 0:54:41TRAIN HORN BLARES
0:54:44 > 0:54:47In little more than a century of Romanov rule,
0:54:47 > 0:54:50Russia had undergone an extraordinary transformation.
0:54:51 > 0:54:56Mikhail I had inherited a war-torn backwater,
0:54:56 > 0:55:00but he and his son Alexis used their absolute power
0:55:00 > 0:55:03to bring stability and continuity.
0:55:06 > 0:55:10But Russia would have remained obscure and backward
0:55:10 > 0:55:14if Peter the Great hadn't developed a boundless vision
0:55:14 > 0:55:17and then let nothing stand in his way.
0:55:21 > 0:55:24He gave his country a navy,
0:55:24 > 0:55:27a new capital, an empire,
0:55:27 > 0:55:30and, above all, a future.
0:55:36 > 0:55:42Peter reinvented Russia, and that's why they call him Peter the Great.
0:55:52 > 0:55:55Half a century after Peter's death,
0:55:55 > 0:55:58this statue was erected to him in St Petersburg.
0:56:04 > 0:56:06It was designed by a French sculptor,
0:56:06 > 0:56:10but the face was done by his 18-year-old female assistant...
0:56:12 > 0:56:16..who modelled it on Peter's own real-life death mask.
0:56:21 > 0:56:26The enormous granite boulder on which the Bronze Horseman sits
0:56:26 > 0:56:31is said to be the largest stone ever moved by human hands.
0:56:31 > 0:56:35It's hard not to think of all the broken backs and crushed limbs
0:56:35 > 0:56:41involved in transporting it, but then, perhaps that's appropriate.
0:56:41 > 0:56:44For all of Peter the Great's tremendous achievements,
0:56:44 > 0:56:47I think it's hard to warm to him.
0:56:47 > 0:56:52He may have dragged Russia kicking and screaming into the modern world,
0:56:52 > 0:56:58but he did so with ruthlessness and sometimes with downright cruelty.
0:56:58 > 0:57:01It's hard to think of another sovereign who worked so hard
0:57:01 > 0:57:05for his people, yet who treated them with so little compassion.
0:57:09 > 0:57:12Nevertheless, Peter changed Russia for ever.
0:57:13 > 0:57:16He set the benchmark against which
0:57:16 > 0:57:19all future Romanov rulers had to be measured.
0:57:24 > 0:57:28But one of them would unashamedly claim Peter's mantle.
0:57:28 > 0:57:32She was the woman who erected this monument to him.
0:57:33 > 0:57:36THEY CHEER
0:57:37 > 0:57:42Catherine II, also known as Catherine the Great.
0:57:43 > 0:57:46But if you look at their names on the base of the monument,
0:57:46 > 0:57:48you might think that Catherine's
0:57:48 > 0:57:51is in a slightly bigger font than Peter's.
0:57:51 > 0:57:54Does this mean that she was even greater?
0:57:56 > 0:57:59MUSIC: 1812 Overture by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
0:57:59 > 0:58:02Next time, we meet Catherine the Great,
0:58:02 > 0:58:04the small-time German princess
0:58:04 > 0:58:07who becomes a big-time Russian empress.
0:58:10 > 0:58:15We'll explore a golden age of imperial architecture and culture.
0:58:17 > 0:58:21And we'll see how everything that the Romanovs have achieved
0:58:21 > 0:58:25ends up hanging in the balance, when Napoleon invades Russia.
0:58:25 > 0:58:28THEY ROAR