St Petersburg University scholars take part in the conference "The Significance of Peter the Great’s Reforms in the Modern and Contemporary History of Russia"

At the plenary session, the conference participants were greeted by Professor Abdulla Daudov, Director of the Institute of History at St Petersburg University. In his welcoming address, Professor Daudov focused on the significance of the transformations and reforms in Russia’s foreign and domestic policies, culture, education, and other aspects of public life initiated by Peter the Great. He stressed that all these transformations were aimed at achieving Russia’s great-power potential and ensuring the country’s position as a global player.

The nation’s great-power status has never been lost. To strengthen Russia’s position in the world, Peter the Great expanded the country through conquest and annexation.

Professor Abdulla Daudov, Director of the Institute of History at St Petersburg University

‘I want to emphasise that Tsar Peter the Great organised research and development of all the acquired lands and ensured the full protection of the rights of the peoples inhabiting the territories annexed to Russia. In the future, the principle of state protection of all the peoples of Russia continued to be upheld,’ said Professor Daudov.

Abdulla Daudov underlined the importance of holding such conferences. It is face-to-face meetings with colleagues from various fields of study and different regions that enable a better understanding of the current state of the study of history. This helps to determine vectors of development in historical research in general and in particular in the Institute of History at St Petersburg University.

The conference has assembled over 130 scholars from various academic, research, cultural, and educational organisations from both the Russian Federation and abroad: Austria, Bulgaria, Tunisia, and France. Over 100 presentations were made in five conference panels. The conference was held in a mixed format.

St Petersburg University scholars of different disciplinary backgrounds made presentations at the conference, including: historians Professor Andrei Ivanov, Professor Aleksandr Kotov, and Professor Pavel Krotov; philosophers Professor Tatiana Chumakova and Associate Professor Elena Ovchinnikova; and a philologist and historian of journalism Associate Professor Elena Sonina.

Andrei Ivanov, Professor in the Department of Contemporary History of Russia, made a presentation on the topic ‘Peter the Great and his reforms in the assessments by the right-wing monarchists of the early 20th century’. The study aimed to explore how Russian right-wing monarchists of the early 20th century perceived Peter the Great and his reforms. Professor Ivanov analysed Russian opinion journalism of the beginning of the 20th century to show that the attitudes towards Peters the Great and his reforms in the right-wing camp were not unanimously negative.

Aleksandr Kotov, Professor in the Department of History of Russia from Ancient Times to the 20th Century at St Petersburg University, made a presentation on the topic "The image of Peter the Great in the conservative press of the second half of the 19th century". Professor Kotov drew attention to the fact that Peter the Great has been traditionally regarded as a symbol of Russia’s modernisation; hence, it is customary to set him against the conservative values.

However, in the 19th century, within the conservative camp, it was perhaps only the Slavophiles who criticised the Petrine reforms. These liberal features of the Slavophile conservatism were actively denounced by the nobiliary conservatives.

Aleksandr Kotov, Professor in the Department of History of Russia from Ancient Times to the 20th Century at St Petersburg University

According to Professor Kotov, ‘the image of Peter the Great may have been a matter of dispute between representatives of these two types of Russian conservatism — the nobiliary conservatism and the nationalist conservatism.’

Speaking about the conference, Aleksandr Kotov said: ‘Of all the anniversaries celebrated recently, the Petrine is the most important. The Petersburg period of Russian history was a time when Russian civilisation reached a pinnacle. It is therefore imperative that the public attitudes toward Petrine reforms in the golden age of our culture be thoroughly studied. This conference has become the main anniversary event, with leading experts on the Petrine era and related subjects having reported their research findings.’

Elena Ovchinnikova and Tatiana Chumakova from the Institute of Philosophy at St Petersburg University developed an interest in the period of the Petrine reforms when they participated in the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR) project on the history of ethical concepts. This period attracts special interest as it was a time of transformation of the moral value system of society and formation of fundamental ethical concepts. Elena Ovchinnikova and Tatiana Chumakova made two thematically related presentations at the conference panel "Culture, Science and Education" — in fact, it was one big presentation in two parts.

Elena Ovchinnikova, Associate Professor in the Department of Ethics at St Petersburg University, addressed the topic of "Formation of the language of morals in the Russian culture in the Petrine era". ‘Russian culture in the Petrine era is of particular significance as it is associated with the transformation of the moral values of society and formation of fundamental ethical concepts. Through educational and moral literature, moral discourse in Russian society was imbued with: issues of civic engagement; attitudes towards work, education and science; as well as moral properties and assets of a human person and society. It is during this period that patterns of behaviour and moral values and ideals of Russian society were adopted. Educational literature determined the public perception of morality, primarily as organising principles of human society that form views regarding proper behaviour, social virtues, moral standards, and educational tasks,’ said Elena Ovchinnikova.

In this regard, Leonty Magnitsky’s ‘Arithmetic’ is very indicative. This mathematics textbook published in 1703 contains ethical concepts and reflections on the good and the moral dignity of students of science who extract "the most beneficial fruit of free wisdom".

The study of moralising and didactic literature of the 17th—18th centuries enables tracing the formation of the ordinary and theoretical language of morality in the Russian society in the Enlightenment period, expands the possibilities for historical research of Russian ethical theories, moral narratives of the era and the conceptual foundations of philosophical ethics in Russia.

Tatiana Chumakova, Professor in the Department of Philosophy of Religion and Religious Studies at St Petersburg University, picked up the topic and focused on ethical concepts in textbooks and didactic literature, popular in Russian culture in the Petrine era. For instance, the textbook "The Honest Mirror of Youth" — a manual on the upbringing and education of youth — facilitated the process of inculcation of the Western elite’s behavioural code in Russia. This book is perceived as a phenomenon associated with the Petrine reforms, when commoners won honours in recognition of their merits, bravery or services to the sovereign and the nation and became the new elite.

In closing the conference, Aleksei Sirenov, Director of the St Petersburg Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Professor in the Department of Russian History Sources and Chronology at St Petersburg University, noted that only now the study of history is beginning to overcome the view on the Petrine era as a firm boundary marking the start of Modern Times in Russia.

The next major scholarly event dedicated to the topic "Peter the Great and the Development of Science in Russia" will be held in St Petersburg in early October this year.