Peter the Great

Peter the Great (1672-1725), Tsar of Russia.

Peter I, known as the Great, was at first joint emperor with his half-brother, Ivan.

Ivan died when Peter was twenty-four and at once Peter set to work to change Russia.

He organized a new army and founded a navy and a merchant navy. For much of his reign he was engaged in wars. He fought to obtain seaports on the Black Sea from Turkey, on the Baltic Sea from Sweden and on the Caspian Sea from Persia.

He built a new seaport and capital, St. Petersburg, on land won from Sweden, and obtained three Caspian provinces from Persia.

Early in his reign Peter went on a tour of Europe to study what was happening in other countries.

He founded the iron industry in the Ural Mountains. The people did not like all the changes and they did not like the taxes they had to pay because of them. At one stage, Peter's own son opposed him and he had him put to death.

Peter was over six and a half feet (two meters) tall and a man of great strength who sometimes fell into fits of rage.

Before Peter the Great, Russia was like a state in the Middle Ages. But by the end of his reign, it was beginning to be like other countries in Europe at that time.

Essential reading: Robert K. Massie Peter the Great