Peter the First in Russian liberal discourse of the second half of XIXth and the beginning of XXth centuries

The article is devoted to the analysis of the views of Russian liberal leaders of the second half of the XIX - early XX centuries on Peter I and his transformation. The subject of the article is the historical and publicistic works of such authors as M. Pogodin, S. Soloviev, K. Kavelin, B. Chicherin, P. Vinogradov, S. Frank. Using textological analysis, the author aims to analyze the assessments made by representatives of the liberal Russian public of Peter I.'s transformational activities. According to the author, representatives of the Russian liberal discourse spoke about Russia as a part of Europe primarily in the geographical sense, and the common destiny of Russia and Western European countries is often determined by geography. Thinkers believed that European culture found its place in Russia, which before Peter I distinguished by its originality and firmness of the original principles. The author concludes that Russian liberals recognized Europeanization as an organic historical phenomenon caused by the whole progress of development of the country and expressing its needs...