The Will of Peter the Great, and the Eastern Question
THE political testament of Peter the Great, the true founder of the great Russian Empire, is a unique and remarkable document. It is but little known, except to diplomatists, and is, at the present crisis of the Eastern Question, a key which may furnish a true solution of that complex problem. In this light it possesses a peculiar value, and will naturally claim the earnest attention of every reader. In the rapid development of public events in the East, Russia is likely to become at any moment the vast, overshadowing despotism of the world. Napoleon I. truly declared, among his last utterances at StHelena, that Europe in fifty years from that time (1821) would be either republican or Cossack. The revolutions of 1848enacted the final throes and convulsions of the republican cause in Europe. Those frantic struggles only proved the weakness of the undisciplined multitude in their effort to cope with crowned heads and standing armies. Numbers succumbed to the superior strength of method and arbitrary power. The struggle has, to some degree, fastened their chains more firmly round the subject peoples. Since that period, kings and emperors have consolidated their power, and all hope of republican triumph is gone. The autocracy of Russia stands forth as the sworn foe to democracy, and is the declared Champion of the divine rights of kings and of the omnipotent power of absolutism. The prophecy of the great emperor is about to he realized. Europe, not being republican, will become Cossack. He truly declared, “If Russia gets possession of Constantinople, leaning on the Baltic and the Bosphorus, she will subjugate Europe and Asia to the same yoke.” Thus the will of Peter the Great, which here follows, will become an accomplished reality.
THE WILL OF PETER THE GREAT.
In the name of the most holy and indivisible Trinity, we, Peter the Great, unto all our descendants and successors to the throne and government of the Russian nation:
The All-Powerful, from whom we hold our life and our throne, after having revealed unto us his wishes and intentions, and after being our support, permits us to look upon Russia as called upon to establish her rule over all Europe. This idea is based upon the fact that all nations of this portion of the globe are fast approaching a state of utter decrepitude.
From this it results that they can ho easily conquered by a new race of people when it has attained full power and strength. We look upon our invasion of the Weat and the East as a decree of divine Providence, which has already once regenerated the Roman Empire by an invasion of “barbarians.”
The emigration of men from the North is like the inundation of the Nile, which at certain seasons enriches with its waters the arid plains of Egypt. We found Russia a small rivulet; we leave it an immense river. Our successors will make of it an ocean, destined to fertilize the whole of Europe, if they know how to guide its waves. We leave them, then, the following instructions, which we earnestly recommend to their constant meditation: —
I. To keep the Russian nation in constant warfare, in order always to have good soldiers. Peace must only be permitted to remit the finances. To recruit the army, choose the moment favorable for attack. Thus peace will advance your projects of war, and war those of peace, for obtaining the enlargement and prosperity of Russia.
II. Draw unto you, by all possible means, from the civilized nations of Europe, captains during war and learned men during peace, so that Russia may benefit by the advantages of other nations.
III. Take care to mix in the affairs of all Europe, and in particular of Germany, which being the nearest nation to you deserves your chief attention.
IV. Divide Poland by raising up continual disorders and jealousies within its bosom. Gain over its rulers with gold; influence and corrupt the Diet, in order to have a voice in the election of the kings. Make partisans and protect them; if neighboring powers raise objections and opposition, surmount the obstacles by stirring up discord within their countries.
V. Take all you can from Sweden; and to effect this isolate her from Denmark, and vice versa. Be careful to rouse their jealousy.
VI. Marry Russian princes with German princesses; multiply these alliances; unite these interests; and, by the increase of our influence, attach Germany to our cause.
VII. Seek the alliance with England, on account of our commerce, as being the country most useful for the development of our navy (merchants, etc.), and for the exchange of our produce against her gold. Keep up continued communications with her merchants and sailors, so that ours may acquire experience in commerce and navigation.
VIII. Constantly extend yourselves along the shores of the Baltic and the borders of the Euxine.
IX. Do all in your power to approach closely Constantinople and India. Remember that he who rules over these countries is the real sovereign of the world. Keep up continued wars with Turkey and with Persia. Establish dockyards in the Black Sea. Gradually obtain the command of this sea, as well as of the Baltic. This is necessary for the entire success of our projects. Hasten the fall of Persia. Open for yourself a route towards the Persian Gulf. Reestablish, as much as possible, by means of Syria, the ancient commerce of the Levant, and thus advance toward India. Once there, you will not require English gold.
X. Carefully seek the alliance of Austria. Make her believe that you will second her in her projects for dominion over Germany, and secretly stir up other princes against her, and manage so that each be disposed to claim the assistance of Russia; and exercise over each a sort of protection, which will lead the way to future dominion over them.
XI. Make Austria drive the Turks out of Europe, and neutralize her jealousy by offering to her a portion of your conquests, which you will, further on, take back.
XII. Above all, recall around you the schismatic Greeks, who are spread over Hungary and Poland. Become their centre, and support a universal dominion over them by a kind of sacerdotal rule (autocratie sacerdotale); by this you will have many friends amongst your enemies.
XIII. Sweden dismembered, Persia conquered, Poland subjugated, Turkey beaten, our armies united, the Black and Baltic seas guarded by our vessels, prepare, separately and secretly, first the court of Versailles, then that of Vienna, to share the empire of the universe with Russia. If one accept, flatter her ambition and amour-propre, and make use of one to crush the other by engaging them in war. The result cannot be doubtful; Russia will be possessed of the whole of the East and of a great portion of Europe.
XIV. If, which is not probable, both should refuse the offer of Russia, raise a quarrel between them, and one which will ruin them both. Then Russia, profiting by this decisive moment, will inundate Germany with the troops which she will have assembled beforehand. At the same time, two fleets full of soldiers will leave the Baltic and the Black Sea, will advance along the Mediterranean and the Ocean, keeping France in check with one, and Germany with the other. And these two countries conquered, the remainder of Europe will fall under our yoke.
Thus can Europe be subjugated.
The authenticity of this document seems to be well attested. Its existence has been known long enough to vindicate it from the charge of being a clever fraud of recent origin. The paper is wonderful for its thorough comprehension of the march of leading events in modern and current history, long in advance of their actual occurrence, and for its prophetic insight into the territorial and political destiny of Europe and the world. The original, deposited by Peter among the secret archives of the Russian government, has been preserved with vigilant care and religious reverence as a precious heir-loom to the successors of the testator. Rumors of such a document, preserved as a profound secret by his successors, are of an early date, and even traces of its contents have been found in the writings of historians and diplomatists of the eighteenth century. Its first copy in this country appeared in the Courrier des Etats-Unis, in New York, and was declared to be a true copy of the original, obtained by an attaché of the French embassy at St. Petersburg secretly and at great risk and expense. It is there styled “ the secret plan of European supremacy, left by Peter the Great to his successors on the Russian throne,” recommending a policy they have uniformly pursued, with a view to the ultimate conquest of Europe and the founding of a universal empire after the manner of Cyrus, Alexander, and Cæsar. The fruits of this policy, devised with profound sagacity and followed up with untiring energy, are now visible in the wonderful aggrandizement of Russia and her claimed superiority over her contemporaries in Europe in all the elements of strength, territorial extent, population, diplomacy, and power, which, in human estimation, go to make up a nation’s grandeur.
Upon one occasion Napoleon, looking into futurity, said to Dr. O’Meara, “ In the course of years Russia will have Constantinople, the greatest part of Turkey, and all Greece. This I hold to be as certain as if it had already taken place. Almost all the cajoling and flattering which Alexander practiced toward me was to gain my consent to this object. I would not consent, seeing that the equilibrium of Europe would be destroyed. In the natural course of things, in a few years Turkey must fall to Russia. The greatest part of her population are Greeks, who you may say are Russians. The powers it would injure and who could oppose it are England, France, Prussia, and Austria. Now, as to Austria, it would be very easy for Russia to engage her assistance by giving her Servia and other provinces bordering on the Austrian dominions, reaching near Constantinople. The only hypothesis upon which England and France will ever form an alliance with sincerity will be in order to prevent this; but even this alliance would not avail. France, England, and Prussia united cannot prevent it. Russia and Austria can at any time effect it. Once mistress of Constantinople, Russia gets all the commerce of the Mediterranean, becomes a great naval power, and God knows what may happen. She quarrels with you, marches off to India an army of seventy thousand good soldiers — which is nothing — and one hundred thousand canaille, Cossacks and others, and England loses India. ... I think you will see that the Russians will either invade and take India, or enter Europe with four hundred thousand Cossacks and two hundred thousand real Russians. When Paul was so violent against you [the English], he sent to me for a plan to invade India. I sent him a plan, with instructions in detail. From a port in the Caspian Sea he was to march on to India. Russia must either fall or aggrandize herself.”
In still another conversation, O’Meara asked Napoleon if it was true that Alexander once intended to seize Turkey, to which Napoleon replied, “ All his thoughts are directed to the conquest of Turkey. We have had many discussions together about it. At first, I was pleased with his proposals, because I thought it would enlighten the world to drive those brutes, the Turks, out of Europe. But when I reflected upon the consequences, and saw what a tremendous power it would give to Russia, in consequence of the number of Greeks in the Turkish dominions, I refused to consent to it, especially as Alexander wanted to get Constantinople, which I would not allow, as it would have destroyed the equilibrium of power in Europe. I reflected that France would gain Egypt, Syria, and the islands, which would have been nothing in comparison with what Russia would have obtained. I considered that the barbarians of the North were already too powerful, and probably, in the course of time, would overwhelm all Europe; and I now think they will. Austria already trembles; Russia and Prussia united, Austria falls, and England cannot prevent it. France, under the present family, is nothing, and the Austrians are so weak that they would be easily overpowered. They will offer little resistance to the Russians, who are brave and patient. Russia is the more formidable because she will never disarm. In Russia, once a soldier always a soldier; barbarians who, one may say, have no country, and to whom every country is better than the one that gave them birth.”
Allan B. Magruder.