The Impact of Peter the Great’s Reforms on a Private Life of the Russian Nobility (According to Family Correspondence of the Menshikovs)

Master’s dissertation is accomplished within the framework of practice-oriented research. The study discusses how to elaborate the Menshikov’s correspondence in school teaching. The main issue of this work is the impact of the Peter’s reforms on the private life of Prince Alexander D. Menshikov. The study analyses the epistolary part of the unpublished family archive of Prince A. D. Menshikov for the period from 1706 to 1727. The Master’s dissertation discusses contemporary historical writings on the history of the day-to-day practices as well as the history of a private life along with the research issue of Peter’s innovations in culture. The study pays a special attention to the behavior of Petrine nobility, to the influence of the so called ‘Europe-orientated modernization’ on the daily occurrence on the system of family and personal values. Numerous samples for school lessons on the Russian history, for the outcome monitoring, for research-projects’ activity or for the Unified Federal Exam are offered in the practical part of the dissertation in accordance with the requirements of the Federal State Educational Standard and the historical and cultural standard. Keywords: private life, family correspondence, A. D. Menshikov, the education of the heirs, Europeanization, Peter’s reforms, daily occurrence.