Valery Tishkov on the title Father of the Fatherland granted to Peter the Great in 1721

"..Notable in this respect is the act of 1721 that bestowed on Peter I the title of Emperor of All Russia. The members of the Senate and the Holy Synod asked the sovereign to take upon himself the title "Father of the Fatherland", since he had done so much for it during his "statehood", when the state of all the Russians and the Russian people had become strong and respected. The term "fatherland" (otechestvo) was in itself an innovation that might well not have taken root in Russian political language. But the term remained as an analogue of the concept of patrie, from which was formed, and even came into the Russian language, the word "patriotism", stripped of its generic root "patria". The place of patria was taken by the word "otechestvo", but "otechestvizm" did not catch on and "patriotism" prevailed. The title "Father of the Fatherland", the equivalent of the Latin pater patriae, established a new significance for the role of the tsar as the spiritual father of his flock.

As Greenfeld writes, "in terms of discourse this was, if not yet the consciousness of all those who were encouraged to use this word, then nevertheless a movement under Peter's leadership towards the idea of a nation. This change of vocabulary was very significant, and the new concepts had to penetrate slowly into the minds of individuals who until then had been constantly reminded that they were someone's despicable slaves."

And she goes on to write of Peter: "Although Peter was aware of the existence of polities that were nations, and even had direct experience of being among them, he did not conceive of Russia as a nation. He made no distinction between himself and his state. And this was because the state was for him an extension of his own person. Being himself no nationalist, he tried to make nationalists of his subjects, but only to the degree that would increase the efficiency and devotion of those who served him. Perhaps owing to a lack of the enthusiasm and determination required for the task, his success was fairly modest. Indeed, there was something pathetic in the discrepancy between Peter's insistence that his subjects serve the state, of which they were supposed to be free and therefore devoted citizens, and his firm conviction that they were to serve only him, their merciful father, supreme ruler, tsar and protector. Although Peter I did not give his subjects a sense of personal dignity (a fundamental element of civic nationalism), he gave them pride in being the subjects of such a powerful and famous ruler, and in being members, even if as serfs, of a vast and mighty empire."

The full title of the Russian sovereign included the notions of "emperor" and "tsar" simultaneously, since Peter was tsar (khan) for the "Tatar lands", the Khanates of Kazan and Astrakhan."

From the book by Valery Tishkov, "The Russian People. The History and Meaning of National Self-Awareness"