Peter the Great
1672 – 1725 Russian Tsar and first Emperor of Russia
Tsar who modernized Russia along Western lines, defeated Sweden, and proclaimed the Russian Empire.
- Religion
- Russian Orthodox
- Affiliations
- House of Romanov
Peter I took sole control in the 1690s and drove a sweeping program to reshape the army, navy, administration, and culture along Western European lines. He defeated Charles XII of Sweden at Poltava, breaking Swedish dominance in the north, and founded a new capital at Saint Petersburg on Baltic marshland at great human cost. In 1721 he took the title of Emperor and placed the Orthodox Church under state control through the Holy Synod. His reforms centralized power and Europeanized the elite while binding the peasantry more tightly to the state.
Connections
- influenced Catherine the Great — His westernizing reforms were continued by Catherine.
- influenced Catherine the Great — Modeled her rule on his Westernizing reforms.
- family of Michael of Russia — Founder of the Romanov line; Peter the Great was his grandson.
- family of Michael of Russia — His grandfather was the first Romanov tsar.
In the timeline
- 1689 Peter and Catherine the Great as reformers mentioned
- 1696 Peter the Great Becomes Sole Ruler the tsar
- 1703 Founding of Saint Petersburg the founder
- 1708 Mazepa allies with Sweden against Peter the Great central figure
- 1709 Battle of Poltava the victorious commander
- 1721 Proclamation of the Russian Empire the proclaiming emperor
- 1721 Founding of the Russian Empire mentioned