Latest / The Romanov Dynasty: Rise, Power, and Bloody End — Fexingo History / The Siege of Azov in 1695: Peter the Great's First Military Test
Transcript
- Lucas: Alright, so we've talked a lot about Peter the Great's reforms — the Table of Ranks, the first navy at Taganrog, the Grand Embassy. But before all that, before he even set foot in Western Europe, Peter faced his first real military test, and it was a disaster that taught him everything. I'm talking about the siege of Azov in 1695. Luna: Azov — that's the Ottoman fortress at the mouth of the Don, right? The one that blocked access to the Sea of Azov? Lucas: Exactly. And for Russia, it was the key to the Black Sea. Without Azov, the Crimean Tatars could raid the southern steppes at will, and Russia had no warm-water port. So in the spring of 1695, Peter — only twenty-three years old — assembled an army of about thirty thousand men and marched south. He was convinced he could take it quickly. Luna: Had he ever commanded a siege before? Lucas: Never. He'd played at war with his 'toy regiments' around Preobrazhenskoye, but this was the real thing. And the fortress was no joke. Azov had been held by the Ottomans since 1471, and they'd reinforced it with stone walls, deep moats, and artillery bastions in the European style. Peter's army arrived in late June, set up camp, and began bombarding the walls. But they made a critical mistake. They didn't blockade the river. Luna: So the Ottomans could resupply by sea? Lucas: Exactly. Ottoman ships sailed right up the Don, bringing fresh troops, food, and ammunition. Meanwhile, the Russian siege was hampered by poor coordination. Peter had two foreign generals — Patrick Gordon, a Scot, and Franz Lefort, a Swiss — but they didn't see eye to eye. The streltsy, the old musketeer regiments, were undisciplined and reluctant to dig trenches. And the heavy cannons kept sinking into the mud. Luna: Sounds like a mess. How long did it last? Lucas: About two and a half months. By September, with winter approaching and disease spreading, Peter ordered a retreat. He'd lost perhaps ten thousand men — dead, wounded, or dead from illness. It was a humiliating failure. But here's the thing about Peter: he didn't sulk. He analyzed what went wrong and decided that the problem was simple. He needed a navy. Luna: So that's why he built the fleet at Voronezh. Lucas: Right. Over the winter of 1695–96, Peter launched an unprecedented shipbuilding program at Voronezh, about five hundred miles up the Don from Azov. He drafted thousands of peasants, carpenters, and convicts to work in the shipyards. Dutch and English shipwrights were brought in. By spring, they had built two warships, four fire ships, and over a thousand river barges and smaller vessels. It was crude and frantic, but it worked. Luna: And he went back in 1696? Lucas: He did, with a much larger force — about seventy thousand men, including a new fleet under Lefort. This time, they blockaded the Don estuary, preventing Ottoman reinforcements. The siege itself was still brutal — the Turks fought fiercely, and there were several bloody assaults — but by July, the fortress was cut off and running out of supplies. The Ottoman garrison finally surrendered on July 19, 1696. Peter had his first victory. Luna: And this is what led to the Grand Embassy — he went west to learn more about shipbuilding and military technology. Lucas: Exactly. He saw Azov as just the beginning. He needed a proper navy, not just a makeshift flotilla. So in 1697 he sent the Grand Embassy to Europe, traveling incognito as 'Pyotr Mikhailov,' a simple carpenter, to study Dutch shipyards firsthand. And Azov itself became the first Russian port on the Sea of Azov — a foothold for future expansion. Of course, it didn't last. After the disastrous Pruth campaign in 1711, Russia had to give Azov back. But by then, Peter's focus had shifted to the Baltic and the foundation of St. Petersburg. Luna: It's interesting — that first failure almost seems more important than the victory. Without it, he might never have built the navy. Lucas: Absolutely. And if this kind of deep dive into how history actually happens is useful to you — how leaders learn from mistakes, how one defeat can reshape a whole country — then the best way to keep these conversations ad-free is through listener support. It's buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Every contribution goes straight into research time and production, no middlemen. Luna: Yeah, it really makes a difference, even just a coffee's worth. Lucas: So back to Azov: after the second siege, Peter ordered the construction of a new fortress and harbor at Taganrog, which we've mentioned before. That became the base for the Azov fleet. He also started drafting plans for a canal linking the Don and the Volga, to move ships between the Caspian and Black seas. It was wildly ambitious, and the canal wasn't completed until the 20th century, but it shows how his horizons had expanded. Luna: So the Azov campaigns were really the opening act of Peter's reign. Lucas: They were. And they set a pattern: Peter would try something, fail, learn, try again with more resources, and eventually succeed. He was relentless. One detail that sticks with me: during the first siege, Peter himself served as a bombardier, firing cannons. He wasn't just directing from a safe distance — he was in the trenches, getting his hands dirty. That earned him real respect from the common soldiers, even if the streltsy officers grumbled. Luna: Did the streltsy cause problems later? Lucas: Oh, yes. They'd been unreliable at Azov, and Peter never forgot it. After the second siege, he used the victory to push through reforms, but the streltsy remained a conservative, rebellious force. In 1698, while Peter was abroad on the Grand Embassy, they mutinied — partly because of the hardships of the Azov campaigns, partly because they feared being disbanded. Peter rushed home and crushed the rebellion with brutal efficiency. Hundreds were executed, and the streltsy regiments were dissolved. It was a turning point: after that, Peter had no tolerance for opposition. Luna: So Azov wasn't just a military victory — it reshaped the entire state. Lucas: Exactly. It gave Peter the credibility to push through reforms, it gave Russia a navy, and it exposed the weaknesses of the old army. And it began Russia's long struggle for access to the Black Sea — a struggle that would continue for centuries, right up to Catherine the Great's annexation of Crimea in 1783. But that's a story for another episode. Luna: I'm glad we covered this one. It feels like the missing link between the young Peter and the reformer. Lucas: It really is. And next time, we'll follow Peter to Europe on the Grand Embassy and see what he actually learned in the shipyards of Zaandam and Deptford.