<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > lost heir</h1>
The life of Alexei, son of Peter the Great, was the most dramatic in Russian history. Historians have recorded and studied various versions, ranging from Alexei, the heir to the throne, as a traitor, to those who were framed by a conspiracy, or as a victim of abuse by his father.
Prince Alexei Petrovich was killed before his execution after being sentenced to death. Why did Peter the Great, Russia's greatest ruler, treat his own son so cruelly?
Prince Alexei was the eldest son of Peter the Great, born to Tsar Peter I and his first wife, Evdokia Robhinna. The tragedy of the family is that the empress is not interested in her husband's career, the tsar dreams of transforming Russia with a European way of life, and the empress grew up in a traditional Russian family, and she thinks the tsar's idea is absurd.
The empress was cold to her husband, often making Peter the Great furious. Over time, the hard-working and weary monarch found a mistress and forced the empress to become a nun in a convent.
Of course, the disharmony of the parental relationship affects the psychology of young children. Alexei loved his mother and began to hate his father. Peter the Great, who was a life of reform and a diligent dictatorship, devoted almost all his time to the country, and did not try to change his son's view of himself.
For years, the father-son relationship has been deadlocked and has not improved, and there is a tendency to deteriorate. During the war with the Swedes, Peter the Great's radical reforms, tax increases, and suppression of traitors did not increase his prestige, but rather the brutal wars of this period destabilized the country, and countless insurrection teams exhausted Peter I.
At that time many people thought that Peter the Great was a foreign agent, a traitor to the Russian nation. Instead, Alexei seemed to be a glimmer of hope for the nobles who opposed the Tsar, who sought to deepen their heirs' hatred of their fathers.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > escape and betrayal</h1>
In 1715, Peter the Great and his second wife, Catherine, had a son named Peter Petrovich. With the arrival of a new heir, Alexei's position was crumbling.
Peter I made a condition for the eldest son: either to correct and begin to help his father, or to deprive him of the right to inherit. If the inheritance was denied, Alexei would have to go to the monastery to be with his mother. The young and vigorous prince certainly did not like this condition, and he fled to Austria under the patronage of Charles VI of Austria.
Alexei had no turning back, and he would certainly be killed in his homeland. His presence posed a threat to both his second son Petrovich and to the peace of the country.
With no other choice, Alexei tried to reach an agreement with Charles VI, using his army to help sit on the throne of the Russian Tsar. In return, he would give the Austrians Russian border lands bordering Austria. Later Alexei sent the same conditions to the Swedes in the form of letters.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > prodigal son turn back</h1>
Prince Alexei Petrovich's plan failed. The Austrians did not send an army for him, but he received false information that Charles VI might have betrayed. Peter I, in turn, promised in his letters to forgive him for all his sins and write them off as soon as he returned.
The fugitive heir accepted his father's terms and went to St. Petersburg to return home. However, when he returned, he was immediately stripped of his right to the throne and forced to swear an oath to relinquish the throne. At the same time, Alexei was tried for seeking to overthrow his father's power, and all those who supported him were executed.
Why did Peter the Great not keep his promise and quickly put his son to death?
The truth is that Alexei would be forgiven if he confessed all his crimes. Unfortunately, the former heir did not confess everything, especially since he remained silent about his letter to the Swedes. But his mistress, the village girl, Ephrothea, did not grit her teeth, but did not confess herself.
Prince Alexei was charged with "treason" and sentenced to death in 1718. The reason is unclear, but the prince was no longer alive before the execution. There is a saying that Peter the Great decided not to execute him in public for his own sake and for the dignity of his son, and ordered him to be killed without making any noise before the sentence was executed.
The execution of Alexei was a turning point in the history of the country. Peter the Great had no rightful heirs and no more heirs to the throne. Over the next 40 years, seven tsars appeared to replace russia, and Russia became a serfdom state under the rule of the nobility and the army.
2021.8.28 Written by ValloJamong