In 1682 an emotionally traumatized and somewhat sickly young boy of 10 was proclaimed Tsar of all Russia. Why was he traumatized you might ask? Well, weeks before his coronation his elder half sister led a military coup to try and displace the boy and his entire family from power. She did so by bribing and tricking the Streltsy, specialized soldiers unique to Russia, into attacking the royal palace. The goal was to kill as many of the boy's relations as they could and they topped it off by dragging him through his slain family's blood. One can imagine the affect this had on a once happy and carefree child. This boy was called Peter and one day he would be known to history as Peter The Great. 

Born on June 9 1672 Peter was the youngest, and healthiest, son of Tsar Alexis I. When Alexis died in 1676 the crown passed to his eldest son who became Feodor III. Though brilliant  well educated (he knew Latin!), and a capable ruler Feodor had been terrible disfigured from birth and as a result he had no heir. His death in 1682 led to what became known as the Moscow Uprising of 1682. Technically the throne should have passed to Feodor's younger brother Ivan but Ivan was severely physically and mentally disabled. The Council of Nobles met and agreed that Peter would be named instead of his half brother but before this was presented to Peter it had to be ratified by the people of Moscow. The idea was put forth and the people agreed that Peter was the best choice. Ivan was too busy staring at a wall all day to realize that he had been passed over in the succession. Ivan's crazy sister Sophia though was outraged and decided to make a bid for power with poor Ivan as her puppet. She tricked the Streltsy into thinking that Peter's family was planning on killing the rightly heir (Ivan) and convinced them to kill Peter's entire family. The majority of his mother's family died that day, right in front of his eyes. They were chased through the palace, tortured and/or ripped into pieces. As a result of this extremely traumatic experience Peter developed a severe eye twitch and was prone to uncontrollable spasms. The Streltsy (really Sophia pulling the strings) put forth the idea that Ivan and Peter rule as joint Tsars as Ivan V and Peter I. At just ages 16 and 10 the boys were wholly unprepared and that is where their sister came in. She sat on the other side of the curtain that was just behind the boys' joint thrones and dictated as to what to say. This arrangement worked well for years. Ivan had his head in the clouds and energetic Peter just wanted to by drilling is rift raft army of street boys. That is until Peter came of age a decided that he had had enough.  

In the summer of 1689, at the age of 17, Sophia and the leaders of the Streltsy plotted against Peter. He was warned by a friend within the Streltsy and escaped to a monastery. There, he gathered loyal forces and marched on the Kremlin. Sophia was thrown out of power and lived out the rest of her days in a convent with a different name and no longer a member of the royal family. Peter and Ivan remained co-rulers for the next 10 years until Ivan died at the age of 29 in 1696. 

So began the solo reign of Peter the Great. 

To Be Continued...