The history of St. Petersburg is brief. History of the creation of St. Petersburg

St. Petersburg - one of the most wonderful cities in Europe, deservedly called the Northern Palmyra. You can write whole volumes, telling how this second capital of power was created. No less interesting is the whole history of St. Petersburg. Briefly try to consider it.

North War

The war with the Swedish king Kahl XII, later known as the North, was intended by Peter I to open Russia's exit to the Baltic Sea, which means "to cut through a window to Europe", which the tsar-reformer wanted so hard to do.

In the course of this protracted campaign, many great victories were won, which Russians are still proud of: near Narva, Shlisselburg and, of course, Poltava. Eventually, Peter managed to win the final victory in the war in 1721 and achieve Russia's access to the Baltic Sea.

How is the history of the creation of St. Petersburg connected with these events? This will be briefly discussed below.

Plans for the construction of a new capital

Tsar Peter I understood that Russia needs radical reforms, and practically in all spheres, from management to production technology. But he could not help but understand that surrounded by boyars in their old nest, Moscow, he could not completely break the chains of the old foundations. Therefore, even at the beginning of the reign, he conceived the idea of building a new capital, from where he would already rule not the Russian kingdom, but the Russian empire.

Later, Peter visited Holland and was imbued with European culture, so he wished his new capital to be just at the western borders of the state.

In 1703, Peter I succeeded in repelling a piece of the ancient Russian land, which at one time was captured by the Swedes. By that time, this land was already called in German manners - Ingermanlandia.

It was here that Peter decided to build his new capital. Thus began the thirteen-year history of the founding of St. Petersburg. This will be briefly discussed below.

City name

As it was said before, Peter I visited Holland in his youth, where he masterfully learned to build ships, learned the local language and, most importantly, was imbued with European culture. He was fascinated by Europe so much that in Russia he tried to arrange everything in the European manner, introduced new laws, forced the boyars to cut beards. It is not surprising that he also tried to make his new capital look like Amsterdam, a Dutch trading city.

The city was named in honor of the patron saint of the king - the apostle Peter. Naturally, the name he gave his capital to the Dutch manners - St. Peter Burkh. It was with this name that the history of St. Petersburg was connected before 1914. Briefly about what happened and why the name changed, you'll find out a little later.

Foundation of St. Petersburg

Thirteen years have passed from the laying of the first stone of the fort, which was named St. Peter-Burkh, in 1704 and until 1717, when the fortress turned into a real full-fledged city. During this period, construction was carried out mainly by ordinary working people. Peter took part in the construction too, since he joined the work with an ax from his youth, helping to build ships for his own fleet, which later became invincible.

Meanwhile, the city was growing, and Peter won one victory after another: in war and in construction. But his real gem was St. Petersburg. The history of the city will be briefly told by us further.

The capital of the empire

So, St. Petersburg grew from a small fort into a city, truly worthy of becoming the capital of the empire. In 1712 the official transfer of the capital city was made. From Moscow began to move to St. Petersburg various official institutions, foreign embassies and the royal court.

After, in 1717, when the construction work in general was completed, for the decoration of the capital took the real masters of their business, invited, of course, from Europe. St. Petersburg all was well. In 1725 the Academy of Sciences was opened here, which made the city not only the state but also the cultural capital of the empire.

After the death of Peter I St. Petersburg did not stop developing as a world center, eclipsing the beauty of many cities in Europe. Yes it is not surprising, because in the city created such great sculptors and architects as Rastrelli, Bazhenov, Felten and many other geniuses with world names.

In the XIX century the city blossomed in all its glory. But this does not stop the history of St. Petersburg. Briefly about what happened next, there will be the following story.

Petrograd: the demise of the empire

In 1914 the First World War began. The Russian Empire together with Britain and France entered into a struggle against Germany and Austria-Hungary. On the wave of patriotic feelings the question arose as to why the name of the Russian capital was pronounced in German. So it was decided to rename St. Petersburg to Petrograd.

But the new name did not last long. In 1917 there was the October Revolution, which destroyed the Russian Empire. On its ruins a new state arose, the USSR. Because of the proximity of the front, the Soviet government was afraid to be in Petrograd, so in 1918 it was decided to again move the capital to Moscow.

But this does not end the history of St. Petersburg. Briefly about how you renamed this city again, you will find out further.

Leningrad and again St. Petersburg

In 1924, the city expected a new renaming. It was connected simultaneously with the death of Lenin, the desire of the Soviet leadership to perpetuate his memory and with the general policy of renaming cities bearing royal names. Thus, Petrograd was renamed Leningrad. A similar fate awaited Aleksandrovsk, Ekaterinograd, Ekaterinburg, Ekaterinodar and other cities bearing the names of the Romanovs.

In the Soviet period, the city lost its capital status, but still remained the second largest and most significant settlement of the USSR. It developed the architecture of the Soviet style, cultural institutions were opened, new residential blocks of high-rise buildings were built.

Although Leningrad knew and bitter years. Especially tragically, the fate of the city's residents was formed during the siege of 1941-1944.

Finally, in 1991 the Soviet Union disintegrated. This gave rise to a wave of new changes in the country. But this time "from above" no one imposed what the city should be called. The name offered to choose the residents themselves. And at a referendum, more than 50% of Leningrad residents decided to return the city to its original name - St. Petersburg. Stages of history are briefly covered in this review. But the main thing is that the city continues to live, new people are born in it, buildings are being built, infrastructure is developing.