Prophecy, Politics, and Propaganda in Petrine Russia

As a consequence of the radical nature of many of the reforms carried out by Peter the Great at the turn of the eighteenth century, Russia was convulsed by political, religious and social upheaval. This paper will explore how prophecy — encompassing biblical predictions, astrological prognostications and divination — was employed by both opponents and supporters of Peter the Great in order to either discredit or champion the monarch’s reforms. Thus, it will be argued that prophecy was utilised as a powerful weapon on the ideological battlefield of Petrine Russia.