The Children of Adam and Eve

Peter the Great or Peter I (1672-1725), czar of Russia (1682-1725), whose
military campaigns and modernization efforts transformed Russia into an
empire to be reckoned with in European affairs.

Peter was born in Moscow on June 9, 1672, the son of Czar Alexis I
Mikhailovich. In early Childhood he was taught by private tutors; later,
with the aid of palace masters and various foreigners living in Moscow, he
taught himself technical and mechanical arts, especially in relation to
military and naval science. From 1682 to 1689, under the regency of his
half sister Sophia Alekseyevna (1657-1704), Peter shared the throne with
his older half Brother Ivan V (1666-96), but in 1689 Peter's partisans at
court overthrew Sophia and installed him as sole authority (formally, Ivan
continued to reign until his Death).

During Peter's reign Russia emerged as a great European power, in part
because of his introduction of many Western European scientific,
technological, cultural, and political conceptions and practices. In 1696,
after creating a river fleet, the first Russian navy, Peter captured from
the Turks the important fortress of Azov, which commanded the Sea of Azov
and gave Russia access to the Black Sea. The following year, in an effort
to secure allies among the European powers against the Turks and the
Swedes and in order to acquaint himself with Western technology, Peter
accompanied a diplomatic mission to the principal capitals of Western
Europe. During his travels he induced about 900 artisans, craftsmen,
technical advisers, and other experts to emigrate to Russia. Later he sent
many Young Russians aBroad to learn Western crafts and trades.

On his return to Moscow in 1698 Peter, determined to gain control of the
eastern part of the Baltic Sea, began military preparations for an attack
on Sweden. Although the Great Northern War (1700-21) that ensued began
inauspiciously for him, with a devastating setback at Narva (1700), he
went on to win one of the greatest military victories in Russian history
at the Battle of Poltava in 1709. By the terms of the Treaty of Nystadt
(1721) that concluded the war, Russia gained control of a considerable
area of the Baltic littoral, later called the Baltic Provinces. In 1703,
during the war, Peter founded Saint Petersburg as a ?window to Europe? and
made it his capital.

Peter was proclaimed emperor in 1721 and thus established the Russian
Empire. He introduced such internal reforms as abolition of the power of
the boyars, or aristocrats, and the subordination of those nobles and of
the Church to the throne; the encouragement of industry, trade, and
education; and the reorganization of the administrative apparatus of the
state to make it More modern and efficient. During Peter's reign the
Russian alphabet was simplified, Arabic numerals were introduced, the
first newspaper in the Russian language was published, schools were
founded, and an Academy of Sciences was established.

Under Peter, Russia became a regimented state. His police-state philosophy
was based on the conviction that, just as he spent his life unceasingly in
service for the state, so his subjects, whose welfare was his object,
should discharge their obligation to the state. Both his reforms and his
swift, often cruel, reprisals for infractions of his regulations made
indelible impressions upon Russian life. He died in St. Petersburg on
February 8, 1725.