Part I: Petrine Era (4)Revolt and Culture

I. Main Themes

1. Continuous popular unrest, especially on borderlands

2. Bulavin Uprising 1707-8: major Cossack insurrection

3. Most resistance is passive evasion4. Critical role of state in cultural change5. Emergence of political and social thought6. New Westernizing culture: change

concentrated in elites7. Major increase, change in print culture8. Popular culture

II. Revolt and Opposition

1. Siberian revolts of 1690s2. Streltsy, 1697-993. Astrakhan rebellion, 1705-64. Bulavin uprising 1707-9

a. Causesb. “Seditious letters”

5. Peasant disorders6. Elite opposition7. Results

Strel’tsy

Kondratii Bulavin

Bulavin’s “Seditious Letters”

• “One must not be silent and allow evil people, princes, boyars, tax profiteers (pribyl’shchiki), and Germans to commit evil deeds.”

• “We having nothing to do with the common people; we are concerned with the boyars and whoever commits injustice.”

Peasant Statements at Preobrazhenskii Prikaz

• “What kind of tsar is this? It’s a monster, who is devouring his own tsardom.”

• “What kind of tsar is he? All are being dragged into service; the entire country is devastated.”

• “What kind of tsar is he? He has ruined the peasants, their homes have been emptied, their children orphaned, and all are caused to suffer.”

• “What kind of tsar is this? He orders us to shave our beards, wear pagan clothes, smoke tobacco, drink freely…. I don’t want to live if I must shave off my beard.”

III Culture

1. State Culture 2. Social and political thought: Saltykov,

Kurbatov, Pososhkov3. Education4. Elite culture

a. “Westernization”b. Print Culturec. Literature, Arts

5. Popular Culture

Winter Palace

Academy of Sciences

Kunstkamera

Decree on Kunstkamera (1719)

“It is well known that, in human nature and among animals and birds, it happens that monsters (monstry) are born, i.e., freaks, which are collected in all states like something wondrous.”

Offer to subjects: generous payment, no questions asked

Petrine Schools

Navigational School (1701)

Artillery School (1701)

Gymnasium (1707)

Medical School (1707)

Engineering School (1712)

Cipher Schools (1716)

Petrine Schooling

Petrine Schooling

St. Petersburg VedomostiFirst Number (1703)

Church (Cyrillic) Script

Church-script (Cyrillic) Text

Secular Script: Petrine Editing

Geometry: First Book Published in Civil Script (1708)

Peter’s Personal Library

Subject Percent

Religion 28

Military 28

Literature 4

Geography 9

History 9

Miscellaneous 22

Composition of Published Titles (1,877) in 1700-1725

Category Percent of Titles

Laws, regulations 44%

Official notices 15%

Religious texts 24%

Military texts 8%

Technology, calendars 8%

Literature 0.2%

Printing: Growth in Titles

Year Number of titles

1701 8

1724 149

1710 List of Subjects Published

Etiquette of letter writingGeometryStrategies of military stormingFortificationArtilleryGeographyHistory of Alexander the GreatDescription of Triumphal Gates (Poltava)

Some Firsts

1701 First reading primer

1703 Math book using Arabic numbers

1708 Civil Script

Ivan Nikitin: Peter on Death Bed (1725)

Andrei Matveev: Allegory of Painting (1725)