Vasily Vladimirovich Dolgorukov

Prince Vasili Vladimirovich Dolgorukov (Russian: князь Василий Владимирович Долгоруков) (c. January 1667 – 11 February 1746, Saint Petersburg) was a Russian commander and politician, promoted to Field Marshal (генерал-фельдмаршал) in 1728. His life and fortune swung like a weather vane, due to complex plots and the troubled time following Peter the Great's death.

Son of a boyar, Vasili Dolgorukov was, starting from 1685, a stolnik at the royal court. He was then enlisted in the Preobrazhensky regiment in 1700, starting his true military career.

Serving in the Preobrazhensky regiment, he took part in Russian Northern Wars and distinguished himself during the siege of Mitava in 1705. In 1706, he was transferred to Ukraine, where he was under the command of Ivan Mazepa, where he distinguished himself in 1707–1708 during the squelching of the Bulavin Rebellion. During the Battle of Poltava he was the commander of the reserve cavalry force. In 1715, he was sent to Poland as a represent of Peter (who was ill at that time), where he concluded, in 1716, a pact with Danzig, forcing the city into an anti-Swedish policy. He also accompanied Peter the Great during his foreign travels in 1717 and 1718.

Despite being a favorite of Peter the Great, Dolgorukov disapproved a number of Peter's reforms, and eventually became a partisan of tsarevich Alexei Petrovich. In 1718, following Alexei's trial and death, Dolgorukov reproached Peter such a violent behavior towards his own son. Dolgorukov was tried, demoted and exiled to Solikamsk.

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