Editing Peter III of Russia (section)

=== Character ===
[[File:Peter III's letter (1746) 02.jpg|right|thumb|upright|Peter's 1746 letter to his wife in French, the language of the Russian aristocracy]]

The classical view of Peter's character is mainly drawn out of the memoirs of his wife and successor. She described him as an "idiot" and as a "drunkard from Holstein", also describing her marriage with him with "there is nothing worse than having a child-husband"; even Peter's idol, [[Frederick the Great]] mentioned him by saying "he allowed himself to be dethroned like a child sent off to bed".<ref name="Jaques-2016">{{Cite book |last=Jaques |first=Susan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BA_CCwAAQBAJ |title=The Empress of Art |date=2016 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-1-68177-114-4 |language=en |chapter=Chapter 3}}</ref>

This portrait of Peter can be found in most history books, including the [[Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition|1911 ''Encyclopædia Britannica'']]:

{{Blockquote|Nature had made him mean, the [[smallpox]] had made him hideous, and his degraded habits made him loathsome. And Peter had all the sentiments of the worst kind of a small German prince of the time. He had the conviction that his princeship entitled him to disregard decency and the feelings of others. He planned brutal practical jokes, in which blows had always a share. His most manly taste did not rise above the kind of military interest which has been defined as "corporal's mania," the passion for uniforms, [[White pipe clay|pipeclay]], buttons, the "tricks of parade and the froth of discipline." He detested the Russians, and surrounded himself with Holsteiners.{{sfn|Bain|1911}}}}

There have been many attempts to revise the traditional characterization of Peter and his policies. The Russian historian [[A. S. Mylnikov]] views Peter III very differently:
{{Blockquote|Many contradictory qualities existed in him: keen observation, zeal and sharp wit in his arguments and actions, incaution and lack of perspicuity in conversation, frankness, goodness, sarcasm, a hot temper, and wrathfulness.<ref>Raleigh, {{citation |last1=Donald |first1=J |last2=Iskenderov |first2=AA |year=1996 |title=The Emperors and Empresses of Russia: Rediscovering the Romanovs |page=127 |publisher=ME Sharpe |place=New York}}.</ref>}}

The German historian Elena Palmer goes even further, portraying Peter III as a cultured, open-minded emperor who tried to introduce various courageous, even democratic reforms in 18th-century Russia.{{sfn|Palmer|2005}} A monument for Peter III stands in Kiel, the city of his birth.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Memory of Russia abroad: The first monument dedicated to Russian Emperor Peter III opened in Germany |url=https://www.prlib.ru/en/events/668771 |access-date=2024-02-17 |website=Presidential Library |language=en}}</ref>