— Yevgeny Viktorovich, which lands did Peter the Great “take back and reinforce”? What was the goal of his territorial acquisitions?
— I would like to remind you that along with “historically Russian” lands, Peter also seized Estland, Livonia and Finland. And later, a part of Iran.
— He incorporated them.
— According to the 1617 Treaty of Stolbovo, Sweden gained a part of Novgorod lands at the mouth of the Neva River. These lands became Swedish territory, and Russian tsars had to take a “cross-kissing” oath, which reaffirmed their fidelity to the agreements recognising these lands as Swedish. Russian diplomats attempted to take back this “small loss”, as they called it, during negotiations, but the Swedes ignored their requests. Shortly before the start of the Great Northern War, Peter also took the same oath.
— That he vows to respect Sweden’s territorial integrity in the future?
— Yes, exactly. That he adheres to the existing treaties. By the way, this escalated tensions later, because Peter even sent ambassadors to Sweden confirming that a “cross-kissing” oath did take place, and right when the delegation arrived in Stockholm, Peter treacherously attacked Narva. The Swedish king later said that Russians are not to be dealt with, as they do not keep their word and violate the treaties they signed. In other words, a state had signed agreements with another state on its territorial integrity, and later attacked this state suddenly without a declaration of war.
— But then Russia explained the reason for the attack.
— Yes, the reasons were announced later. There were two main reasons. The first one was the resentment towards Sweden: when Peter came to Riga incognito within the Grand Embassy (a Russian diplomatic mission to Western Europe in 1697-1698, led by Peter the Great — translator’s note), the Swedish governor did not allow him to make a sketch of military fortifications installed in the city. The Russian Emperor considered that an insult. The second reason was the return of the lands around the Neva River that had previously belonged to Novgorod and that had been seized by the Swedes according to the peace treaty. These lands were called “otchiny and dediny” (the lands of the ancestors — translator’s note).
— The lands the ancestors had fought for?
— Precisely. This was the main justification for the attack.
— So, we simply wanted to take back “what was ours”, or did Russia actually need these lands for something?
— You see, here’s the thing. The concept of territory takes a special place in Russian consciousness. Russia holds its territory as the most important value. The fact that the country is so huge is already something to be proud of. Although the average annual temperature in modern Russia reaches 5.5 ºC below zero.
— But Russia has enough territory, why don’t we cultivate what we have?
— No, absolutely not, we do not have enough territory, there are still lands that definitely must be ours. For many reasons. First of all, they are the lands of our ancestors. Secondly, we need to ensure the security of the lands that we already have. Because if we take back the lands of our ancestors, the Swedes can attack what we already have. So, to protect the lands of our ancestors around the Neva River, we need to take Estland on the one hand and Finland on the other.
— You’re talking about the events that happened 350 years ago, right?
— Of course. The realisation that our territory is enormous is mixed with awe and the idea of our greatness.
— So, it’s not because our people are happy and our economy is rich. We are great only because our territory is so huge?
— We are great and strong. And new territories are needed as an airbag of sorts. Peter the Great wrote that after Vyborg was taken, St. Petersburg got a guarantee of security. This gives the leader a carte blanche to carry on despite the potential losses and expenses.
— Are you talking about human losses?
— Human losses as well. Look up what Vladislav Surkov (Putin’s former political aide often viewed as the main ideologist of the Kremlin, removed from his duties in February 2020 — translator’s note):