Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - Chapter VIII.
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The political situation in the empire favored the
adoption of Bering’s plans. The Duchess of Courland, Anna
Ivanovna, had just (1730) ascended the throne. With her
the foreigners and Peter’s reform party again came into
power, and with much more zeal than skill, they sought
to continue Peter’s work. Anna aimed to shine in
Europe as the ruler of a great power, and in Russia as a
West European queen. Europe was to be awed by
Russian greatness, and Russia by European wisdom. In one
of his high-flown speeches Czar Peter had given assurance
that science would forsake its abodes in West Europe,
and in the fullness of time cast a halo of immortal glory
around the name of Russia.
It was necessary to speed this time. Anna and her
co-adjutors had an insatiable desire for the splendor and
exterior luster of culture. Like upstarts in wealth they
sought to surround themselves with some of that glory
which only gray-haired honor can bestow. One of the
surest ways to this glory was through the equipment of
scientific expeditions. They had at their disposal an
academy of science, a fleet, and the resources of a mighty
empire. The sacrifice of a few thousand human lives
troubled them but little, and they exerted themselves to
make the enterprise as large and sensational as possible.
Bering’s above-mentioned proposition was taken as a
foundation for these plans, but when, after the lapse of
two years, his proposition left the various departments of
the government—the Senate, the Academy, and the
Admiralty—it had assumed such proportions that he
found great difficulty in recognizing it.
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