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"NATIONAL
RULES FOR THE RUSSIAN NATION
Reproduced here is a portion of the will of Peter I
(AD 1725) This document entitled Rules for the Russian Nation
was transmitted to Louis XV in 1757 by one of his noblemen.
This translation was taken from "History of RUSSIA" by Walter
Kelly (Published in 1854).
1.
The Russian nation must be constantly on a war footing
and in good condition. No rest must be allowed, except for
the purpose of relieving the state of finances, recruiting the
army, or biding the favourable moment for attack. By this means
peace is made subservient to war, and war to peace, in the
interest of aggrandizement and increasing prosperity of RUSSIA.
2.
Every possible means must be used to invite from the
most cultivated European states commanders in war, and philoso-
phers in peace; to enable the Russian nation to participate in
the advantages of other countries, without losing any of its own.
3.
No opportunity must be lost of taking part in the
affairs and disputes of Europe, especially in those of GERMANY,
which from its vicinity, is of the most direct interest to us.
4.
POLAND must be divided, by keeping up constant jeal-
ousies and confusion there. The authorities must be gained over
with money, and the assemblies corrupted so as to influence the
election of the kings. We must get up a party of our own there,
send Russian troops into the country, and let them sojourn there
so long that they may ultimately find some pretext for remaining
there forever. Should the neighbouring states make difficulties,
we must appease them for the moment, by allowing them a share of
the territory, until we can safely resume what we have thus given
away
5.
We must take away as much territory as possible from
SWEDEN, and contrive that they shall attack us first, so as to
give us a pretext for their subjugation. With this object in
view, we must keep SWEDEN in opposition to DENMARK, and DENMARK
to SWEDEN, and sedulously foster their mutual jealousies.
6.
The consorts of the Russian princes must always be
chosen from among the GERMAN princesses, in order to multiply
our family alliances with the GERMANS and to unite our interests
with theirs, and thus, by consolidating our influence in GERMANY,
to cause it to attach itself spontaneously to our policy
7.
We must be careful to keep up our commercial alliance
with ENGLAND, for she is the power which has most need of our
products for her navy, and at the same time may be of greatest
service to us in the development of our own. We must export
wood and other articles in exchange for her gold, and establish
permanent connections between her merchants and seamen and our own.
- 1 -
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"ocrText": "COPY\n\"NATIONAL\nRULES FOR THE RUSSIAN NATION\nReproduced here is a portion of the will of Peter I\n(AD 1725) This document entitled Rules for the Russian Nation\nwas transmitted to Louis XV in 1757 by one of his noblemen.\nThis translation was taken from \"History of RUSSIA\" by Walter\nKelly (Published in 1854).\n1.\nThe Russian nation must be constantly on a war footing\nand in good condition. No rest must be allowed, except for\nthe purpose of relieving the state of finances, recruiting the\narmy, or biding the favourable moment for attack. By this means\npeace is made subservient to war, and war to peace, in the\ninterest of aggrandizement and increasing prosperity of RUSSIA.\n2.\nEvery possible means must be used to invite from the\nmost cultivated European states commanders in war, and philoso-\nphers in peace; to enable the Russian nation to participate in\nthe advantages of other countries, without losing any of its own.\n3.\nNo opportunity must be lost of taking part in the\naffairs and disputes of Europe, especially in those of GERMANY,\nwhich from its vicinity, is of the most direct interest to us.\n4.\nPOLAND must be divided, by keeping up constant jeal-\nousies and confusion there. The authorities must be gained over\nwith money, and the assemblies corrupted so as to influence the\nelection of the kings. We must get up a party of our own there,\nsend Russian troops into the country, and let them sojourn there\nso long that they may ultimately find some pretext for remaining\nthere forever. Should the neighbouring states make difficulties,\nwe must appease them for the moment, by allowing them a share of\nthe territory, until we can safely resume what we have thus given\naway\n5.\nWe must take away as much territory as possible from\nSWEDEN, and contrive that they shall attack us first, so as to\ngive us a pretext for their subjugation. With this object in\nview, we must keep SWEDEN in opposition to DENMARK, and DENMARK\nto SWEDEN, and sedulously foster their mutual jealousies.\n6.\nThe consorts of the Russian princes must always be\nchosen from among the GERMAN princesses, in order to multiply\nour family alliances with the GERMANS and to unite our interests\nwith theirs, and thus, by consolidating our influence in GERMANY,\nto cause it to attach itself spontaneously to our policy\n7.\nWe must be careful to keep up our commercial alliance\nwith ENGLAND, for she is the power which has most need of our\nproducts for her navy, and at the same time may be of greatest\nservice to us in the development of our own. We must export\nwood and other articles in exchange for her gold, and establish\npermanent connections between her merchants and seamen and our own.\n- 1 -"
}