Putin compares his actions to the conquests of Peter the Great

President Russian, Vladimir Putincompared his actions on Thursday to those of Tsar Peter the Great, who in the 18th century waged war against Sweden and occupied part of its territory, as well as Finland and part of Estonia and Latvia.

“We have just visited an exhibition on the 350th anniversary of the birth of Peter the Great. It is surprising, but almost nothing has changed (…). Peter the Great fought the Great Northern War for 21 years. It seems that by fighting against Sweden he was taking something. But he wasn’t taking anything, he was taking it backPutin told a group of young entrepreneurs in Moscow.

Look: About 60 Russian ships take part in naval maneuvers in the Baltic Sea

When Peter the Great founded St. Petersburg and made it the new Russian capital, “no European country recognized this territory as belonging to Russia. Everyone recognized it as part of Sweden.” he claimed Putin.

“But since time immemorial, the Slavs lived there, together with Finno-Ugric peoples”, by which the tsar “recovered and reinforced” what was Russian, he added.

“Apparently, it is also our responsibility to take back and strengthen”, he stressed, in an apparent allusion to the current Russian offensive in Ukraine.

“Yes, there have been times in the history of our country when we have been forced to go back, but only to regain our strength and move forward,” he proclaimed.

Sweden’s defeat in the Great Northern War (1700-1721) made Russia the leading Baltic Sea power and a major player in European affairs.

“Patriot”

Pedro I ruled first as Tsar and then as Emperor from 1682 until his death in 1725.

After a trip to Europe that made him aware of Russia’s backwardness, he modernized the empire at a forced pace; he reformed the army, the state and the church and created a navy.

He also built Saint Petersburg, the imperial capital, which he considered an “open window to Europe”.

That legacy of rapprochement with the Old Continent is out of tune with the current situation, of rupture between Moscow and the West due to the conflict in Ukraine.

In Saint Petersburg, which during the Soviet era was called Leningrad, most of the celebrations took place, with shows and conferences.

The figure of Peter the Great is also associated with that of a conqueror who expanded the borders of Russia and that of a strong monarch who did not allow any type of opposition.

“Pedro I can be an emblematic figure both for supporters of European-style liberalism and for supporters of a strong state,” historian Daniil Kotsubinski told AFP.

Putin described him in a statement Wednesday as an “exceptional military figure” and a “patriot” whose “large-scale transformations helped bolster Russia’s international prestige and determined its development in subsequent centuries.”

“Close the window?”

Russian social networks had been full of memes for days that illustrate, around the figure of Peter the Great, the doubts of a part of the population about the future of relations with the West.

“Pedro I opened the window of Europe, Putin is going to close it”, prays one of them. Another montage shows the emperor saying, “Close the window on Europe, the view is terrible.”

Peskov, Putin’s spokesman, said last week that “nobody intends to close anything.”

For the historian Boris Kipnis, “whatever the historical circumstances, if we abandon the axis traced by Pedro I we can ruin the country and the people”. According to him, there is no doubt: “Russia is a European country”.

Despite ongoing tensions between Moscow and European countries, Svetlana Stepanova, a 47-year-old Petersburger who attended the festivities, sees Vladimir Putin as an heir to the emperor. “Peter I made Russia a great power, Putin also wants to see a great Russia,” she said. “That’s the bottom line.”

Source: Elcomercio

Ronald Payne

I, Ronald Payne, am a journalist and author who dedicated his life to telling the stories that need to be said. I have over 7 years of experience as a reporter and editor, covering everything from politics to business to crime.