Peter the Great and the First Russian Navy: Taganrog and Azov

After Peter the Great's Grand Embassy, he returned to Russia with a burning ambition: build a navy from scratch. This episode dives into the gritty, often overlooked early naval campaigns that laid the foundation for Russian sea power. We follow Peter's first attempt at shipbuilding on the Voronezh River, the humiliating failure at Azov in 1695, and the frantic winter of shipbuilding that led to the capture of Azov in 1696. We explore the construction of Taganrog, Russia's first naval base, and the role of foreign experts like Franz Lefort and Patrick Gordon. The episode also covers the Treaty of the Pruth (1711) that forced Peter to scrap his Azov fleet and the eventual shift to the Baltic. Along the way, we touch on the cultural shock of Russian nobles being forced to learn seamanship, the brutal conditions for galley slaves, and the paradox of Peter's naval obsession against Russia's geographic realities. #PeterTheGreat #RussianNavy #AzovCampaigns #Taganrog #FranzLefort #PatrickGordon #Voronezh #TreatyOfPruth #GalleyFleet #Shipbuilding #BlackSea #BalticFleet #GrandEmbassy #RussianEmpire #17thCentury #18thCentury #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo