PETER 



4606 



PETER I 



paigns that he was made chief commander of 

 the armies defending Verdun in the spring of 



1916. When Petain held his ground here, in 

 one of the greatest assaults in all history, the 

 French people 



knew that the 

 war had brought 

 to the front a 

 military genius of 

 first rank. Gen- 

 eral Petain was 

 made chief-of- 

 staff in April, 



1917, and about 

 two weeks later 

 succeeded to the 

 supreme com- 

 mand on the 

 western line of 

 battle. In 1918, 



when the allied MARSHAL PETAIN 



ran?p w<? nparlv Next to Marshals Foch and 



any Joffre he proved to be France's 



hopeless, he was ablest military commander in 



succeeded b y in the War of the Nations ' 

 Foch, who became a Marshal of France. It is 

 said that in his preparation for military lead- 

 ership Petain studied over 500 tactical and 

 strategical encounters. In 1918 his grateful 

 country made him a Marshal of France, with 

 Foch and Joffre. 



PE'TER, or SI'MON PETER, the most 

 prominent of the twelve disciples of Jesus. To- 

 gether with James and John, he was intrusted 

 with his Master's most intimate confidence. 

 He was enthusiastic in his loyalty, yet at times 

 failed to carry out his good intentions. It was 

 Peter who made the great confession, "Thou 

 art the Christ, the Son of the living God," and 

 it was also Peter who declared with oaths, on 

 the eve of the Crucifixion, "I know not the 

 man." Reinstated in his place of leadership by 

 Jesus, who had seen from the beginning the real 

 strength beneath Peter's inconstancy, he be- 

 came the firebrand of the early Church (Acts 

 I-XII), preaching with power, performing mira- 

 cles of healing, meeting fearlessly the charges 

 of the Sanhedrin and enduring imprisonment 

 with joy. Peter made a missionary journey 

 which lasted about eight years. He was the 

 author of the First Epistle of Peter, and, ac- 

 cording to most authorities, of the Second 

 Epistle of Peter. He was probably martyred at 

 Rome at the time of the persecution by Nero. 



PETER I, ALEXEYEVITCH (1672-1725), known 

 as PETER THE GREAT, was the most notable em- 

 peror of Russia and recognized as well as one 



of the greatest sovereigns of modern times. To 

 him, more than to any other one person, the 

 growth and greatness of Russia were due. He 

 was the son of the Czar Alexius Mikhailovitch 

 by his second wife, 

 and his half- 

 brothers Feodor 

 and Ivan stood 

 between him and 

 the throne. Feo- 

 dor, who died in 

 1682, designated 

 Peter as his suc- 

 cessor, but Sophia, 

 sister of Feodor, 

 desired to have 



her brother PE TER THE GREAT 

 crowned, because The most notable of all of 

 hp was weak- Russia>s sovereigns and the 

 ne was weaK- &rea test of the Romanoffs, 

 minded and which dynasty ruled the 



country from 1613 to 1917. 

 would permit her 



to rule. At length both brothers were crowned, 

 but in 1689 Peter forced Sophia to resign the 

 government and enter a convent, while he him- 

 self became in reality sole ruler, though asso- 

 ciating Ivan's name with his own until Ivan's 

 death in 1696. 



Sought Education and Efficiency. Mean- 

 while, Peter saw clearly what he wished to ac- 

 complish for Russia and what obstacles stood 

 in his way. His education had been of the 

 most casual sort, and any subject of which he 

 wished to make use in his government he had 

 to learn from its foundation. No difficulties 

 ever daunted him, however, in his task of mak- 

 ing Russia a country worthy of recognition by 

 other nations. If he was to meet the western 

 states of Europe on an equal footing he must 

 have an organized fighting force, and the reor- 

 ganization of the army on the German model 

 was the first reform which he set in motion. 

 Then, too, he desired for Russia a navy, and 

 an outlet for that navy on ice-free waters. In 

 pursuance of this design he took Azov from the 

 Turks in 1696, thus gaining a port on the Black 

 Sea. He brought artisans, engineers and sol- 

 diers from other countries, but they could not 

 teach him all he wished to know, and in 1697 

 he set out on a tour of Europe, tarrying wher- 

 ever he could learn anything which he felt 

 might be useful to him. Gunnery, shipbuild- 

 ing, anatomy he acquired more than a super- 

 ficial knowledge of these and many other sub- 

 jects; nor was he above working as a carpenter 

 in the shipyards in Holland that his knowledge 

 might be of the most practical kind. Before 



