The confluence of national and imperial identity in modern Russian consciousness has always puzzled observers of the Russian scene and attracted the attention of historians of Russia. That confluence, which distinguished Russian identity from that of west European imperial nations, was expressed somewhat paradoxically by Geoffrey Hosking, who remarked in one of his review articles: “Britain had an empire, but Russia was an empire – and perhaps still is.” One possible explanation of the peculiarities of the Russian imperial experience noted by Hosking is that, unlike the British and other west European empires, the Russian Empire was not a maritime entity but a land-based one. But geography cannot be regarded as the sole explanation of the peculiarities of Russian national identity. The role of historical experience was not insignificant. In the opinion of Richard Pipes, the phenomenon of Russian identity might be explained by the fact that in Russia “the rise of the national state and the empire occurred concurrently, and not, as in the case of the Western powers, in sequence.” If that was indeed the case, then where should one seek the moment in history when the rise of the national state and the empire began? When it comes to the empire, many historians point to the era of Peter I (1689–1725), the founder of the modern Russian state and, coincidentally, the first Muscovite ruler to proclaim himself “all-Russian emperor,” inaugurating the history of Russia not only as a modern state but also as an empire.