The Persian Campaign of Peter I on the pages of the Vedomosti newspaper

Abstract

The first printed newspaper Vedomosti, founded by Peter the Great, is an important source for studying the history of Russian-Ottoman and Russian-Iranian relations in the ϐirst quarter of the 18th century. A lot of attention in the Vedomosti was paid to the international situation of the Ottoman Empire and Russian-Turkish relations. In general, the newspaper characterizes the Ottoman state as an enemy of Russia and all Christian peoples. Under the constant attention of the Vedomosti were the most important changes in the government of Sultan Ahmed III (1703–1730), in the foreign policy priorities of Turkey, as well as domestic political issues the situation of its Christian subjects. The newspaper’s materials provide information about international relations on the eve and during the Persian campaign of Peter I of 1722– 1723, as well as about the representation of newly acquired possessions in the Eastern Caucasus. The Vedomosti newspaper was the ϐirst periodical that introduced the Russian society to the peoples of the Caucasus, the geography of the region and the military-political situation in the Western Caspian region.