| toy regiment | потешный полк (When, as a young boy, his mother removed him from Moscow to the suburban village of Preobrazhensky to protect him from the plots of his half-sister Sophia who sought the title of Regent, Peter took advantage of his relative freedom from diplomatic etiquette and from the ceremony of the Russian court to develop his interest in military ventures. He gathered around him young men from all social classes to form toy regiments. He engaged his troops in elaborately planned military games, in which the manoeuvres were calculated beforehand, and a detailed account was kept of battle formations and camp positions – by J.J. Lingwood Tamerlane) |
