Peter The Czar essays

Peter The Czar essays Peter was only ten years old when he ascended to the throne. He played only a ceremonial role along with Ivan. The real regent to take the throne was Ivan's sister, Sophia . Sophia was a very intelligent woman. She did not spend her days sewing gold thread around crosses the way her mother had, but dabbled in politics during her uncle's short reign . She began very slowly at first but then became an aggressive politician. She liked to test just how far she could press the limits set by society. She new that her brother Ivan would not be capable of ruling and she feared the very thought of Peter taking control. Being an ambitious woman, Sophia decided to use her brother as an instrument to gain all the power for herself. She knew that whoever controlled the Czar's bodyguard's had the power. She very cleverly spread false rumors about Peter's family, including one stating that the Naryshkin's had strangled Ivan. This of course was not even remotely true, but the Czars' guards did not know the real condition of Ivan. Thay grabbed their pikes and muskets and marched to the Kremlin to avenge Ivan's death. Natalia met the soldiers holding onto each of the young Czars' hands. The guards looked upon both boys in bewilderment and slowly retreated. This escapade frightened Natalia a great deal. She moved Peter to the village of Preobrazhenskoe where she thought he would be safe. This left Sophia as regent in Moscow while Natalia ruled from outside the city. While living at Preobrazhenskoe, Peter developed an intense interest in the military. He organized his own military units, the Preobrazhensky and the Semenovsky regiments. These groups were later transformed into the first imperial guards. Peter not only organized the regiments, but he also participated in them. He finally began to show signs that he was going to be a different kind of Czar. He did not place himself at the top as most Czar's did, instead he enlisted as the drummer boy a...