Putin is no Peter the Great

Putin has a penchant for history, but only insofar it flatters him and his views. Last year, he gifted the world a 5,000 essay that essentially pre-justified his invasion of Ukraine with amateurish fantasy history, and now he is comparing himself with Tsar Peter the Great. It is not a comparison that fits or flatters.

Peter the Great is one of the, well, greats of the Russian historical pantheon. He ruled from the late 17^th to the early 18^th century, and in that time became the first tsar to travel in Europe, built a new capital at St Petersburg, and was both founder of the Russian navy and victor, on points, of the 20-year Great Northern War against the Swedish Empire, leaving Russia a dominant Baltic power.

Speaking on Thursday on the 350^th anniversary of Peter’s birth, Putin said that Peter did not take anything from the Swedes – although he acquired territories along the Baltic coast and much of Karelia – but simply ‘returned’ to Russia what had been its own.