V. A. Nike
The appearance in Russia of the first printed newspaper "Vedomosti" (1702-1727) was caused by the reforms of Peter I, the need to promote the reforms he was carrying out. The desire of Peter I to as soon as possible to assert Russia equal among European states predetermined the scope and nature of the reforms that affected all spheres of life.
Even before Peter came to power, Russia faced the task of strengthening the internal and external position of the country, in order to overcome economic backwardness, to gain access to the Black and Baltic Seas, to open the way to Europe. The wars undertaken by Peter (1696 - the conquest of Azov, 1704 - the capture of Narva, 1709 - victorious Poltava battle), ensured the independent existence of Russian statehood. As a result of the Northern War, which lasted 21 years, Russia regained access to the Baltic and fortified itself in the west, north and south of its territory. Simultaneously with military campaigns, reforming the army and navy, Peter carried out economic transformations, was engaged in the creation of domestic industry, the construction of factories, shipyards, and new cities.
The people paid a heavy price for the transformations at the beginning of the century that propelled Russia into the ranks of world powers. The introduction of recruitment kits and the poll tax, increased taxes and increased persecution of dissenters, the construction of St. Petersburg and the protracted Northern War turned out to be big losses. From 1672 to 1710 the population of the country not only did not increase, but even decreased by 6.6 per cent. Dissatisfaction with the policy pursued caused unrest among the landowners and ascribed peasants, factory workers and schismatics. But the process of reconstruction was becoming irreversible, Russia was rapidly turning into a mighty European power.
For the development of science and education, on the instructions of Peter, extensive publishing activities were launched. Since 1708 non-church books began to be printed in a new civilian font. In the first quarter of the XVIII century. more books were published in Russia than in the previous two centuries (600 books and pamphlets). Special attention is given to the distribution of natural science publications. Textbooks on geometry, physics, architecture are published. There are books for the education of the nobility, which reflected changes in the way of life. Domostroy traditions collapsed, masquerades and balls contributed to new forms of communication. They needed guidance on how to behave in society. In the collection “Butts, which compliments are written differently” (1708), samples of letters, gallant and businesslike, were offered, since private correspondence became a sign good manners(for example, "A petitionary message from a student to his father at the beginning of the new year"). The book “An Honest Mirror of Youth, or an Indication for Worldly Behavior” (1719) contained advice for young nobles on how to behave in society, how to behave at the table (do not lean on the table with your hands, do not brush your teeth with a knife, miss the first dish), how to bow at a meeting (taking off your hat in three steps), etc. The book was compiled at the direction of the king and subsequently reprinted more than once by the Academy of Sciences.
The culture of the time of Peter the Great was secular in nature and developed in the confrontation between the old and the new. The rise of the authority of the state over the authority of the church hastened the "peace" of all aspects of Russian life. Peter I changed the attitude towards a person, a person, thus realizing one of the postulates of enlightenment - the extra-class value of a person. In 1722, he enshrined this provision in law, in the “Table of Ranks of all ranks of military, civil and courtiers”, opening up the possibility for representatives of different classes to receive a noble rank for services to the state. And there were many such examples when not the wealth and nobility of the family, but devotion and conscientious service to the Fatherland elevated people to the highest rung of the social ladder. The ideal of the Petrine era was a citizen, a patriot, who must be imbued with understanding and awareness of the need for ongoing government reforms.
Peter 1, in the face of resistance from internal opposition, it was important to find support in society, to expand the circle of supporters of reforms. Being familiar with the role of journalism in European countries and understanding the importance of information, he decides to create a Russian printed newspaper.
Abroad, the first printed newspapers appeared in the 16th-17th centuries. The oldest newspaper that has come down to us, Relatio, was published in Strasbourg in 1609. weekly. The very word "newspaper" is Italian. "Gazzetta" was a small coin that was the price of a written message about some kind of trading news. In Venice, the city, which was in the XVI century. one of the centers of world trade collected news from all over the world. Entrepreneurial scribes copied these messages by hand and sold them to business people, demanding a "gazzetta" for each copy. Gradually, the name of the price was transferred to the handwritten message, so that when the press organs appeared, they were immediately called newspapers.
Before the appearance of Peter's Vedomosti, the Moscow state did not know newspapers. At the royal court, there was a custom to translate and rewrite news from foreign newspapers. Handwritten news from 1621 has been preserved. and later. They talked about battles, the capture of cities, the receptions of ambassadors, state treaties, the arrival of ships with goods, the appearance of comets, etc. The source of this information was German, Dutch, Polish, Swedish newspapers. They entered the Posolsky Prikaz, where clerks and clerks selected news, entering them in Russian translation on narrow long sheets of paper - “columns”. This is how the "Messages" or "Clocks" were compiled, from French word"courant" - current.
A handwritten newspaper in Russia was prepared for Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich, and then Alexei Mikhailovich, and was surrounded by strict diplomatic secrecy. The newspaper was read aloud to the tsars, some manuscripts have marks about this, sometimes with the addition that the neighbor boyars also listened to the news.
These "chimes", or "message letters", after the establishment of a regular post in 1668. were compiled two, three and four times a month, mostly in one copy, less often in two or three, intended, except for the tsar, for the most prominent boyars, and after reading they returned to the Posolsky order or to the secret affairs order.
Peter I personally got acquainted with foreign newspapers and did not need clerks to collect foreign news for him. He needed his own printed newspaper, capable of keeping certain circles of readers informed about government policy, informing about military operations, news of Russian and foreign life. Peter I wanted to promote his military and economic undertakings with the help of the printed word, to make them popular.
1. The first issues of Vedomosti
The first newspaper in Russia, which went down in the history of Russian journalism as Petrovsky Vedomosti, was created in December 1702 on the basis of the decrees of Peter I of December 15 and 16, 1702. Decree of December 15 (26) read:
“The chimes, in our opinion, statements that are sent from different states and cities to the State Embassy and other orders, from those orders to send those statements to the order of books of printing, and how those statements will be sent, and also print at the printing house, and those printed lists, what will remain behind the tray, to sell to the world at the right price ". 1
The second royal decree of December 16 (27) announced:
“According to the statements about the military and about all kinds of affairs that are necessary for declaring Moscow and the neighboring states to people, print chimes, and for printing those chimes, statements in which orders, which are now and will continue to be sent from those orders to the Monastic order , without reeling, and from the Monastic Order, those statements should be sent to the Printing Yard. And about that in all orders from the Monastic order to send memory ". 2
These two decrees determined the mechanism for organizing the newspaper, its content, and the order of distribution.
Simultaneously with the decree of December 16, 1702.g. the first issue of the printed newspaper "Vedomosti from Caesar's Letters" was published, which to a large extent was still an echo of the handwritten Chimes. It contained only foreign news (quite in the spirit of its predecessor) received by mail as early as December 5th. These were news from Frankfurt, Berlin, The Hague, Amsterdam, Augsburg. The next day, December 17, the second issue came out - under the name "Vedomosti of the Moscow State", already with exclusively Russian news. It reported on Peter's triumphant entry into Moscow on December 4 after the victories over the Swedes and the capture of the "fortresses of Marien-6urg and Slyusenburg", on the promise of the "Kalmyk great owner of Ayuki-Taishi" to send his troops to His Majesty, on the deposit of saltpeter, sulfur, iron ores, etc. The first two issues of the newspaper (dated December 16 and 17) have not reached our time in printed form, apparently due to the small number of printed copies, and are known from originals and handwritten copies. The third issue of the newspaper, which appeared on December 27, was devoted to only one news - the capture of the Noteburg fortress and was called "Yurkal or daily painting, which was repaired on September 26th in 1702 during the passing siege under the Notenburch fortress." Unlike the first two issues, which contained different news, this was a detailed, trial story about one event, four times more in volume than the two previous issues combined. It was printed on one large sheet in the amount of 1000 copies, and has come down to us in printed and handwritten versions. His proof sheet contains the editorial corrections of Peter I. Such messages in the form of relations first appeared in the handwritten Chimes.
Thus, the first three issues of the newspaper, published in December 1702, differed from each other in title, in the structure of numbers and in content (No. 1 foreign news, No. 2 - Russian news, No. 3 - a message about a military victory), which was evidence of an attempt to find ways of the initial design of the newspaper, the search for its own face. The first issues, on the one hand, reflected the influence of the handwritten Chimes, which consisted mainly of foreign news, on the other hand, the desire to become a national newspaper was indicated.
2. Formation and development of the newspaper
The inconsistency of the headlines in subsequent issues also testifies to the process of the newspaper's formation. First issue for 1703. (dated January 2) was called "Vedomosti", the following came out under different titles: "Vedomosti Moscow", "Genuine Report", "Bulletin of the Mitav Siege", "Relation", "Russian Vedomosti", others without a heading at all. Following the example of the handwritten Chimes, Vedomosti was composed of laconic messages from different cities, following one after another without any intercom. With the exception of a small number of reports, letters and communications, when reading Vedomosti, the reader goes through a series of incidents that happened in Warsaw, Amsterdam, Paris, Vienna, Copenhagen, London, Berlin and other major cities of Europe. News from Pskov, Kazan, Azov, Siberia and other places in Russia is much less common. The predominance of information from abroad gleaned. mainly from foreign newspapers, make Vedomosti much like handwritten Chimes. Vedomosti takes material from the same foreign publications, only gradually supplementing and updating the circle of sources. Moreover, these are mainly messages about military events. The successive connection between the printed newspaper and the handwritten one can also be traced in the attention paid to foreign news concerning Russia.
Unlike foreign (mostly private commercial publications), Vedomosti, like the handwritten Chimes, had an official state character. In terms of their structure, content and presentation, they were in many respects a continuation of pre-printed Russian newspapers, but their publication was a significant step forward in comparison with the handwritten Chimes, which had a departmental and diplomatic purpose and were aimed at a select circle of readers. With the help of the newspaper, the government for the first time publicly addressed Russian society seeking his support.
The appearance of the newspaper in 1702. not by chance. After the unsuccessful start of the Northern War, Peter needed to convince the society of the possibility of victory, to explain some of his actions, in particular, the confiscation of bells from churches and monasteries, their melting down into cannons and howitzers, to report on the readiness of the Russian troops and their support from other peoples of Russia. It was about this that the newspaper wrote on December 17, 1702. and in subsequent issues.
The first issue for 1703, published on January 2, "reported:
“In Moscow, 400 copper cannons, howitzers and martyrs have now been poured out. Those cannons are 24, 18 and 12 pounds each. Bomb howitzers are pood and half pood. Martyrs with nine, three, two-pood bombs and less. And there are many more forms of great and medium-sized cannons, howitzers and martyrs ready for casting. And copper now in the cannon yard, which is prepared for a new casting, is more than 40,000 pounds. 3
If you remember historical events, then this dry list takes on a special meaning. We are talking about the time after the defeat near Narva, when the Russian army lost almost all of its artillery. To create a new one, Peter had to pour the bells into cannons, which, naturally, caused outrage among the believers. Therefore, Peter, reporting in the newspaper how many cannons have been poured out, seeks to calm down, win public opinion in his favor, explain the necessity and justification of the sacrifices made. The following was about the discovery general schools(“Moscow schools are multiplying, and 45 people are studying philosophy and have already graduated from dialectics”) and special (“More than 300 study at the mathematical navigator’s school and accept science well”), about the birth in Moscow from November 24 to December 24, 386 people “masculine and women’s sex”, about the discovery of minerals (“A lot of oil and copper ore were found on the Soku River, a fair amount of copper was smelted from that ore, from which the Muscovite state expects a considerable profit”).
News about domestic life, which was clearly propagandistic in nature, was supplemented by foreign news, the selection of which was also determined by the interests of the state: information was selected, as a rule, about those countries that were of greatest interest to Russia (Sweden, Denmark, Poland, Turkey). Moreover, the reports of foreign newspapers negative character which cast a shadow on Russia, her army, her allies, etc., were not placed in the newspaper. In the surviving originals of Vedomosti, there are often notes "do not let this article between brackets into the people." When preparing manuscripts for printing, news of Peter's military failures was crossed out. At the same time, information about the victories won by the Russian troops was given completely and often.
For a long time it was believed that this was the first printed issue of Vedomosti, so the birth of Russian journalism was carried out on January 2 (13), 1703.
Only in 1903, in preparation for the reprinting of Vedomosti in connection with their 200th anniversary, were manuscripts of “earlier issues” discovered, and subsequently it was reliably established that the first issues of the newspaper had gone out of print as early as December 1702.
A special place was occupied by coverage of the Northern War, information about which was reflected in almost every issue of Vedomosti: in reports on military operations, in Peter's letters and reports from his associates, in numerous reports from foreign newspapers. So, in the issues of Vedomosti dated July 2 and 15, 1709. Peter's letter to the Tsarevich was posted, announcing the victory over the Swedes near Poltava. For the first time, due to the importance of the event, the first paragraphs in both issues were highlighted in red. Peter wrote “about the great and unbearable victory”, which was won thanks to the courage of the soldiers “with little blood of our troops”, about the strength of mind and about the art of war, which helped the Russians to win a difficult victory over the Swedes and capture several thousand officers and privates, among them - "General Field Marshal Mr. Reinshilt, together with four generals", as well as "Minister Count Peper with secretaries Yemerlin and Zidergerm." The first message, hastily written in the wake of the event, contained initial information, as the author himself pointed out: “We will write in detail soon, but now it’s impossible for speed.” In the issue of July 15, a description is given of the pursuit by the Russians of the Swedish army and its capture at Perevolochna.
The Poltava victory had a great historical meaning. Russia's role in European affairs has increased significantly. An alliance was again concluded with Poland, to which Denmark joined. Russian troops won a number of victories in the Baltic. The newspaper wrote about the capture of Vyborg, Livonia and Estonia, about the victory over the army of General Steinbock, about the campaign in Finland. The most voluminous issue for 1714. was dedicated to the Gangut battle, which contemporaries compared in value with Poltava. After the victory of the Russian fleet at Gangut, the war was already waged on enemy territory. As a rule, messages about battles were supplemented by large registers, which listed the captured Swedish ships, trophies, including captured officers. The news of the conclusion of the Peace of Nystad, published in the issue of September 12, 1721, read:
“The Swedish crown is forever yielding to us Livonia, Estonia, Ingria and a significant part of Karelia”. 4
Covering the events of the Northern War, Vedomosti appealed to the patriotic feelings of readers, emphasizing the courage and bravery of Russian soldiers, "both initial and ordinary." The journalistic principle is clearly expressed in the materials of the newspaper: emotional sounding, civic pathos of messages, the desire to raise the prestige of the Russian state.
Along with the events of the Northern War, Vedomosti regularly covered other topics of Russia's foreign policy life. Moreover, priority attention was paid to those issues or countries that had greater value during this period. So, the newspaper most often wrote about Poland in the first years of the war, about Turkey - in 1710-1714, about England - at the end of the Northern War. The attitude towards the countries was far from the same: Vedomosti wrote about Poland as an allied and kindred country, about Turkey as a hostile state, about England the materials were correct, neutral. Russian-Polish relations were covered in the most detail, while the interests of the Russian state were always in the center of attention. Most of the publications were borrowed from foreign newspapers, especially German ones. Messages from Leipzig were often printed. It was here that since 1702 the newspaper Die Europoische Foma, known at that time in Europe, was published, in which the diplomat and journalist Heinrich Huissen, on the instructions of the Russian government, published articles that formed European public opinion in favor of Russia. He also recruited other journalists for this purpose.
But Vedomosti did not limit itself to publishing materials from foreign newspapers, often publishing original materials sent by Russian diplomats, who were charged by Peter I with the obligation to write for the newspaper. So, on August 20, 1720. A pamphlet by the well-known diplomat B. I. Kurakin was published in a separate issue under the title “A certain person writes to his friend from Gdansk”, which deals with the futile attempts of England to help Sweden return the lost territories on the coast of the Baltic Sea. The article in a very witty way tells how the English squadron, which, having come to Reval, promised to “give birth to mountains”, could not interfere with the actions of Russian troops on the territory of Sweden. It is curious that the article, written on the instructions of Peter, was carefully edited: the title was altered several times, not all the facts about the hostile act of the British government were useful. The newspaper in covering the issue showed caution and balance, it emphasized Peter's desire to maintain friendship with the English king and at the same time gave objective and reliable information about the event in a vivid and expressive form.
3. The main topics of Vedomosti
The newspaper strikes with a variety of themes presented on its pages. Moreover, along with publications borrowed from foreign press and revised for Vedomosti, a large number of original materials were placed here. They comprised two groups: foreign and Russian news. Foreign messages were sent, as a rule, by Russian ambassadors and special agents and contained information about life abroad. This source also existed in the handwritten Chimes. As for Russian news, this was no longer a simple reproduction of European assessments of what was happening in Russia, but was part of the program of the first printed newspaper - to reflect "what happened in the Muscovite state": according to Peter's decree of December 16, various departments were supposed to deliver information, "about what they are now and will continue to be.” The appearance in the newspaper of a chronicle of Russian life, although very scarce and one-sided, was undoubtedly a remarkable innovation. The new material, which reported on the revival of trade, on the development of industry, on the spread of education in the country, on the great war with the Swedes, corresponded to the new purpose that, according to Peter, Vedomosti was to fulfill.
Information about the internal life was focused primarily on the successes of the country and was clearly propagandistic in nature. So, already in the issue of December 17, 1702. it was reported that a lot of iron was made from iron ore recently found in Verkhotursk district, which is superior in quality to Swedish (the insert “that they don’t have this” was made by the editor after the material was written), and many cannons were poured from this iron. The newspaper continued this topic on January 2, 1703, then returned to it again in the issue of July 18, 1703, reporting that "an iron factory is multiplying in Siberia, and there is no such good iron in secular land." It is noteworthy that the report on the successes of the industry of the Urals ("Siberia") is on a par with publications on the development of military production, which appeared in the early years of the newspaper's existence, when the war with the Swedes was just flaring up. Under these conditions, it was important to note the successes achieved in the production of guns. The relevance of the material is confirmed by the fact that the management of Vedomosti printed it the next day after receiving it. The newspaper emphasized: Ural iron is better than Swedish, which at the beginning of the 18th century. sounded like political news.
After a message in the issue of December 31, 1706. about the copper ore found near the Novopetrovsk plants, materials about the industry disappear from the pages of Vedomosti until 1719. Such a long break in the coverage of the development of domestic industry is due to the fact that for a number of years the focus of attention of politicians, and consequently of the government newspaper, was the war, its successes and failures. As P. Shafirov wrote in his book “Discourses on the Svean War”, “civil rights are silent under the ringing of weapons.”
And if in the early years, when the country did not yet have significant successes in the Northern War, the newspaper devoted a lot of space to publications about economic resources countries, then in subsequent years, when Russia returned Ingria, won a number of victories in Livonia and Poland, defeated the Swedes near Poltava, there was no longer any need to prove that the country had many guns and raw materials for their production.
The newspaper will return to the success of industry only in the second half of the Northern War, when the country will feel tired from the protracted campaign, when the government is forced to take measures to return fugitive soldiers to the army, as reported in the newspaper. Under these conditions, it was necessary to encourage society, instill in it faith in the growing power of the Russian state, which, as expected, should have been facilitated by publications about the successes of Russian industry, about the ability of Russian people in the sciences and crafts, as well as “merchant, manufacturing and all kinds of handicrafts. deeds." In the issue dated August 25, 1719. detailed material was published on the economic development of the country. The newspaper wrote that a lot of ore was being mined, and therefore the tsar ordered to invite foreign experts to the Russian service, and besides, "the most understandable ones are chosen from the Russian nation." It was reported that artisans were brought from Stockholm, who were ordered to “produce their craft for the reproduction of manufactories in the state”, that two hundred people voluntarily signed up to study manufacturing, and “the common people form a special desire for these sciences”, that shepherd factories have been established in many provinces, on which Russian people are taught by "foreign shepherds" "how to keep sheep, from which good wool could be turned into a manufactory." The newspaper reported on the successes of gunpowder factories, a cannon factory in St. Petersburg, and gun factories in Tula. The material ended with a message about the construction of ships in the Admiralty, that there were 11 ships on the stocks, "including one eightieth tea this autumn to lower."
The Northern War did not interrupt Russia's trade relations with Western European countries. The newspaper seeks to show the development of trade relations by publishing a series of information:
- “A ship from Maly Kupno came to Tesel with some ships from the Moscow state” (1703.8 Jan.).
- “The ship of the King of Datsk, returning from the city of Arkhangelsk, crashed, and the people all escaped” (1703. November 24).
- “The Moscow fleet of 30 rich merchant ships yesterday, under the confines of two warships, happily arrived on the Thames River” (1710. Jan. 22).
In the issue dated December 15, 1703. a message was published that the government especially encourages trade through St. Petersburg. The newspaper wrote about the arrival in St. Petersburg in November 1703. a Dutch ship with goods, on which there was a "shipper" and several sailors. The skipper was given five hundred gold coins at the governor's table, and each sailor “300 Efimki, and, moreover, he was told to hope others, if then another ship will come there, and to the one who is on that ship, three hundred gold will be given, so if there is a third ship will come, there will be one hundred and fifty gold, and with that the aforementioned ship about St. Petersburg, he was released on his proper path with pleasure, and all the goods that were on that ship were bought at a free price ".
The newspaper often wrote about Russia's interest in trade with European countries. So, "Vedomosti" dated December 5, 1710. they said that the Russian ambassador to Holland, Matveev, on behalf of the tsar, announced “to all the trading people of the United Netherlands ... so that they freely have a way to St. Petersburg, Narva, Riga and Pernov”, that they are guaranteed travel to the listed cities and the opportunity to trade . It was important for Russia to develop trade relations through the recently conquered ports of the Baltic Sea. Vedomosti reported on the arrival in St. Petersburg a large number ships that brought "cloth, damasks, garuses, ginger, stockings, watches" and other goods, and "hemp, yuf, lard, resin" were taken from St. Petersburg. Newspaper interest in issues foreign trade not accidental. Obviously, for contemporaries this issue was of public importance, because the growing trade relations with European countries, despite the hardships of the war, testified to the strengthening of the country.
The expansion of trade required the construction of new canals. Vedomosti reported on the construction of the Vyshnevolotsk Canal, which connected the Volga with the Baltic Sea, which was built under the guidance of Dutch engineers and was subsequently improved by the Novgorod merchant Mikhail Serdyukov “with his own money”, i.e. at his own expense, as the newspaper wrote on July 1, 1719 In the issue of July 19, 1719, news appeared about the construction of the Ladoga Canal, on the construction of which soldiers and civilians worked.
From the first issues of Vedomosti, they reported on the success of education, on the opening of schools. In order to popularize published books from 1710, bibliographic reviews began to be printed in the newspaper - first in the form of lists, and then with annotations. In the issue dated July 1, 1719, Stefan Yavorsky's review of P. Shafirov's book "Discourses on the Sveian War" was published, which in form resembled a sermon. In an effort to expand the horizons of readers, the newspaper gave information about geographical events. So, in the issue of March 18, 1704. a message was printed that a captain was sent from Astrakhan to the Khvalizhskoye Sea with the task of making a map of this sea. The Caspian Sea, in question, was of particular interest to Russia at that time, as it bordered on the Moscow State, the Persian State, and "other lands." The newspaper explained to readers the meaning of geographical terms, which made the texts more accessible.
Already in the first Russian newspaper one can guess the editor's desire to make the newspaper not only useful, but also entertaining.
12/16/1702 (12/29). – Peter I signed a decree on the publication of the first Russian printed newspaper Vedomosti
The birth of the Russian press
The title page of the Vedomosti set of 1704.
Discussion: 6 comments
thanks for the info
Sergey 2009-12-29
In the left paw of the double-headed eagle is a sword. Who is it directed against? The left head of the eagle looks to the left, to the east. And the sword points to the east? Isn't this heraldic feature a PROOF of the existence of Gardariki, a country of cities, in the EAST?
Sergey, you already decide where is the left and where is the right. The sword is in the left paw relative to the viewer. And for the Eagle, this is the right paw. East is always to the right of the viewer (as if he were looking at a classical map), that is, in this case, to the left for the eagle. They completely confused us, and, apparently, you yourself do not quite clearly understand what and with what they wanted to confirm.
As fully convinced fan of fmous Chicherin understan why Peter 1 grsnted that hiAs prominent Family with roots tis electyin of Ts
Mijail Romanov in 1611 after all events with the Paloogs.Shorty said dream som e day to visist coservef as restaaurated pearls done from Catherine la Grande y/or POTEMKI
Wait certainly epoc-making word of President Putim becse little people,s buisiness is sall-mindeness.
REGARDS SOFI JUNE 8 2017
The newspaper "Vesti-Kuranty" ("message letters") began to appear constantly in Moscow in 1621, but some of its issues appeared as early as June 1600.
The newspaper was published without a permanent name, but in the "Census Book of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich" (1676) it is called "chimes about all sorts of news." It is believed that the word "chimes" no later than 1649 began to designate columns with news, since this word was included in the names of several Dutch newspapers of the 17th century (in business writing, foreign newspapers are also called "printed news letters").
Outwardly, the newspaper was a narrow sheets of glued paper, written in a column from top to bottom. Such columns of text were sometimes several meters long. That is why the editorial team was called "chimers".
Dear President of Russia VLADIMIR VLADIMIROVICH PUTIN!
I am writing to you about what happened here, in Russia, during your reign. Went TWENTIE YEAR as YOU are the PRESIDENT of RUSSIA.
RUSSIA is the RICHEST country in the WORLD - it owns more than 30% of all world reserves of natural resources. 75% of raw materials are sold abroad without processing.
We have BEAGING pensions because we have MINOR salaries. [...]
Dear VLADIMIR VLADIMIROVICH, I ask YOU to think about what is happening here in Russia. How and on what our PEOPLE and PENSIONERS live. I really want to hope that YOU will stop PROMISING, but actually start doing something to improve real life people and pensioners of RUSSIA.
Sincerely, V. LUTZINGER, Kaliningrad.
[Admin: Because of big size the text has been completely moved to the forum:]
Long before the advent of writing, people had a need to exchange news. Special people walked around the cities and villages, who announced around the birth, death and other life events. Later in ancient Rome there were prototypes of handwritten newspapers - acta. With their help, the Romans received information about events in their country. There were also news sheets in China.
It is worth saying that by the end of the 15th century, printing already existed. This was facilitated by the appearance of the printing press in Italy. In turn, newspapers were published, albeit handwritten ones. They remained so until the end of the 16th century. Basically, their functioning was in Italy, in some places there were handwritten newspapers in Germany. There were even special people responsible for writing news, the so-called "news scribes".
As the story goes, the first printed newspaper appeared in Venice in the early 16th century. Prior to that, there were weekly handwritten publications and special people called “avizzotori” who specialized in writing news articles.
However, in the form in which modern readers are accustomed to seeing, the French introduced it to the world. This happened on May 30, 1631. The printed edition was called "La newspaper". It was released in thousands of copies. The owner of "La newspaper" was Renaudo.
However, the palm in the publication of a printed newspaper belongs to Germany. As early as 1609, the Strasbourg newspaper Relation: Aller Furnemmen appeared. Its publisher and printer was Johann Carolus. It is worth saying that the exact year of publication of this newspaper is unknown.
Russian Vedomosti
Russia, as always, lagged behind Europe, and in this matter too. The first Russian printed newspaper "Vedomosti" began to function in 1703, when Peter I was on the throne. The period of handwritten newspapers did not pass the country. In particular, the Chimes, created on the model of a Western European newspaper, were popular among the literate population.
The first Russian printed newspaper was small in size - less than a notebook sheet. Unlike the French La Gazeta, which was published weekly, Vedomosti appeared less frequently than once every 23 days.
Interestingly, Tsar Peter himself edited the first issues. According to statistics, 39 issues of this printed edition were published in 1703. Subsequently, the newspaper was renamed "Sankt-Peterburgskiye Vedomosti".
"Day Russian press» - a historical inaccuracy?
By a decree of December 16, Peter I decided: “According to the statements about the military and all kinds of affairs, which are due to announce the Moscow and neighboring States to people, print chimes, and for the printing of those chimes, statements in which orders, which are now and will continue to be, send from those orders to the Monastic order without rewinding, and from the Monastery order those statements should be sent to the Printing Yard. And send about that to all orders from the Monastic order of memory.
One of the first copies of Vedomosti
In fact, according to researchers, the first issues of Vedomosti appeared as early as 1702, almost immediately after Peter's decree. However, these numbers are considered to be trial numbers, since they have been preserved only in the form of handwritten copies and were discovered relatively recently. The very first copy of the newspaper that has come down to us in printed form is dated January 2 (January 13, according to the new style).
Peter I, being a skilled politician and talented strategist, began to publish his own newspaper at the very right time. By 1702, Russian troops had already suffered a number of serious defeats in the Northern War. Narva, where the Russians left almost all their artillery and up to 7,000 dead, shook the faith of the people in a quick victory over the troops of Charles XII. Petrovsky Vedomosti, according to historians, was created precisely in order to convince society of the possibility of victory in the Northern War. This is evidenced by the materials that were published in Vedomosti: for example, in the first December issues, successful military operations were reported, the capture of enemy artillery and the consent of the head of the Kalmyk horde to put 20 thousand of his soldiers at the disposal of Peter.
"Vedomosti" dated June 28, 1711
It is no coincidence that Vedomosti is usually called Peter's. This suggests not only that the newspaper appeared during the reign of Peter, but also that the future emperor personally participated in the creation of the newspaper. Some copies still keep traces of editing, which was done by Peter himself. He, as the researchers proved, often even provided texts for publication himself, sometimes forbade anything to be printed, and also found time to criticize some editions of the newspaper.
What did the country's first newspaper look like?
First of all, Vedomosti was an extremely unstable publication: there was no clear format, no set circulation, no strict periodicity of release, no fixed price, not even a single name (the newspaper could be called differently from issue to issue: there were also Vedomosti Moscow State”, and “Rossiyskiye Vedomosti”, and “Relations”, and “Essence from French Printed Newspapers”). Sometimes Vedomosti was even given out to the people for free. And even the spelling of letters changed in connection with the introduction of civil type by Peter in 1710. The volume of the newspaper different time ranged from 2 to 22 pages.
Report on the victory in the naval battle near the Gangut Peninsula, published in Vedomosti
The first Russian newspaper was a purely official publication, which is also evidenced by the fact that Vedomosti underwent preliminary (that is, even before publication) censorship. Basically, Petrovsky's Vedomosti presented a chain of laconic reports from various places, with most of their material taken from foreign publications. The main genre in which the first Russian journalists worked was relation (reporting on incidents during the war). In the first years of its existence, Peter's associates published in the newspaper: B. Kurakin, P. Tolstoy, A. Dolgoruky and F. Golovin.
The Adventures of the French King in Vedomosti
Vedomosti was published with a circulation of 500 to 4,000 copies. Now these figures seem ridiculous, but for that time such a circulation was quite large. So, for example, the legendary "Contemporary" by Nekrasov, after almost a century and a half, came out with a circulation of 3,100 copies. However, by 1724 the circulation of Vedomosti had already become really small: one of the issues was published in the amount of 30 copies. This is probably due to the fact that the reader has not yet acquired a real habit of reading.
The first issue of "Sankt-Peterburgskie Vedomosti" in Russian
With the death of Peter I, the history of Vedomosti did not end: in 1728, the publication was transferred to the Academy of Sciences, and the newspaper itself became known as Sankt-Peterburgskiye Vedomosti. With this name, the newspaper existed until 1914, then, along with the renaming of the city, the name of the publication also changed: now the Petrogradskiye Vedomosti appeared before the reader. In October 1917, when the Bolsheviks came to power, the newspaper ceased to exist. The publication was resumed only in 1991: the modern version is the largest daily publication in the North-West region.
Predecessor of Petrovsky Vedomosti
By the way, it can be noted that in the Petrine decree there is not a word about the newspaper, it is only about some kind of "chimes". The thing is that in Muscovy, as in other European countries, the appearance of the first printed newspapers was preceded by handwritten editions that contained information about political and economic events. So in this regard, Vedomosti cannot be called the first edition, since Russian handwritten newspapers appeared around 1600, and they were called precisely “Courants” (from French Courant - current).
Handwritten Chimes for 1631
The Chimes, however, were least of all similar to a modern newspaper and even to Vedomosti. First of all, because they were in the nature of state secrets, and the dissemination of information that was in the Chimes was unacceptable. The first handwritten newspaper was compiled with the help of a number of informants who lived in European countries. The "chimes" were issued in a single copy and read to Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich, sometimes the boyars were allowed to stand under the door and listen to what they read to the tsar.
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Today it is difficult to imagine a world without newspapers. But there were such times, because the first newspapers appeared in Ancient Rome around the middle of the 2nd century BC...
The first Roman newspapers were written on wooden tablets, but they performed their main function properly. At first, the news published in them was of an unofficial nature, but after the order of Julius Caesar, reports on the meetings of the Senate, reports of generals and messages from the rulers of neighboring states were added to the news reports.
new power
"Daily Affairs of the Roman People" - a popular daily publication ancient rome lasted until the end of the 3rd century. Following similar news publications, called tipao, appeared in China and were in circulation until the advent of newspapers. Thus, before the invention of newspapers in the 17th century, there were similar ones, but the closest was the circular called awiso.
These were handwritten news bulletins covering political and economic events across Europe. They appeared in Italy in the 16th century and were most popular in Rome and Venice. At the same time, the name "newspaper" came into use - after the name of a small Italian coin (gazzetta), which was usually paid for a handwritten piece of news in Venice.
The news network spread throughout Europe, but in general, awiso were created in Italy, and the rest of Europe simply consumed these works. With the invention of the printing press, another era began. The 17th century brought a new force to the world - newspapers, which were somewhat similar to the current ones. From now on, it became possible to timely inform the subjects of their empire or kingdom, advertise services and publish news, cover the policy of the state from a favorable side, thereby influencing the worldview of people.
However, all of these predecessors did not meet the criteria of real newspapers - they were not intended for a wide range of readers and covered only certain categories of news. At the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries, the first printed editions appeared, which had periodicity and covered a wide range of news.
The brainchild of Johann Carolus
The very first printed newspaper is usually called the Relation aller Furnemmen und gedenckwurdigen Historien (“Accounting for outstanding news and memorable stories”) created in Germany by Johann Carolus, which was published in Strasbourg. Using the printing press, Johann was able to significantly reduce the price and increase the demand for the newspaper.
News publications quickly spread throughout Europe - in 1609 the newspaper Aviso began to be published in Germany, in 1618 newspapers appeared in Antwerp, in 1621 - in England. In the next 50 years, almost every European country began to publish its own newspapers.
Notably, for some countries newspapers were printed in neighboring countries. Thus, it was possible to achieve the independence of the publication from the ruling sovereign. For example, some periodicals were printed in Holland and were a literal translation into English of Dutch newspapers. Such a translation sold quickly because in Holland there was a huge percentage of British merchants and figures interested in the news.
But soon their own newspapers appeared in England, the very first of which is considered to be Corante, or Weekly Newes from Italy, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Bohemia, France and the Low Countreys ("News, or Weekly News from Italy, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Bohemia, France and other countries"). The creator of this newspaper was a certain mysterious N.B.
In England at that time there were two printers with such initials - Nathaniel Butter and Nicholas Bourne, so the debate about the authorship of the newspaper continues to this day. French newspapers at first were also produced in Holland, but already in 1611 the official French newspaper Mercure Francais (“French Mercury”) appeared, which was published once a year and was a government newspaper covering the news of the world from a side beneficial to the authorities.
The power of newspapers was first realized by Cardinal Richelieu, who realized that they have a significant impact on public opinion, therefore, skillfully operating on the news, one can manipulate the population, which he actively did. The newspaper under the auspices of Richelieu was published in 1631, it was called La Gazette and existed until 1915.
Most newspapers of the 17th century had in common that they were published weekly. The real newspaper revolution took place in 1650, when the daily Einkommende Zeitung appeared in Leipzig. The second daily newspaper appeared 50 years later - it was the English The Daily Courant.
They described major disasters and incidents - this was not prohibited, because it did not affect the authority of the king and did not affect the interests of the state. But even then the "opposition" press was born. The printers of such publications could get away with publishing such a newspaper, provided that it was quickly recruited and sold.
Russian "Vesti Chimes"
In Russia, the first handwritten newspaper has been known since the 17th century. Vesti-Kuranty was published from 1621 until its transformation into the printed newspaper Vedomosti. "Vesti-Kuranty" was made by the clerks of the Ambassadorial order in several copies.
News collected from their "correspondents" in different countries Europe; sometimes news from foreign newspapers was reprinted and translated, after which they were placed in Vesti-Kuranty. This edition had an extremely limited circulation and was not intended for the public masses, which does not at all correspond to the criteria of a real newspaper.
But in 1702, on the basis of this newspaper, printed Vedomosti appeared, the initiator of which was Peter I. Vedomosti came out with an average circulation of 2,000 copies. Articles in it were sometimes written by the emperor himself. In 1728, the newspaper was transferred to the department of the Academy of Sciences. Until the middle of the century, Vedomosti was the only periodical printed publication in Russia.
But as in the rest of the world, the number of newspapers began to grow. There were narrowly targeted publications, such as "Industrial List". In 1783, the decree "On Free Printing Houses" was issued, and from now on private individuals could create their own newspapers.
In the 19th century, there was a real newspaper "boom" - highly specialized newspapers appeared: literary, industrial, trade. Private newspapers began to crowd out the official ones. Much attention was paid to foreign policy, the policy of foreign states.
By the 20th century, newspapers began to pay attention domestic politics, the lives of the common people. The newspaper became the leader in the print market. Opposition newspapers appeared. They criticized state power and the political system, paid significant attention to the problems existing within the country.
The media began to actively influence the mindset of readers. But the state severely censored some publications. In the second half of the 19th century, Russkie Vedomosti was founded, which was considered the standard of the newspaper. But because of the criticism of the state and its leaders, the newspaper was subjected to fines and censorship.
By the 20th century, there were a huge number of newspapers of various kinds in Russia. Each political force at that time had a propagandistic newspaper under its control.
After the Bolsheviks came to power, an era of brutal censorship began. Newspapers were controlled by the state, critical and oppositional opinions were banned from publication. Newspapers appeared for certain people, for example, the first children's newspaper, Pionerskaya Pravda, appeared in 1925.
In the 21st century, many publications have switched to electronic format. Paper periodicals have begun to lose popularity, but their number is still huge - there are about 50,000 newspapers in Russia alone.
Egor KIRILLOV
