Introduction

Sticking to the theme of Greats, the next person on this list is Peter the Great. Peter the Great was first Emperor of Russia reigning from 1682-1721. Peter was a rather peculiar figure for his times. To start with he was 6′ 10″ in an era when the average height was 5′ 6″. Compounding  his physical differences was Peter’s unique vision for Russia. Peter rejected traditional in favor social, governmental, and technological innovations of the West, a vision that would transform the Eastern European backwater into a modern European power.

History

Peter began his reign at the age of 10. He was proclaimed co-tsar of Russia after his older brother’s death in 1682. His co-ruler was his mentally deficient half-brother, Ivan V. Due to Ivan’s mental deficiency and Peter’s youth, Russia was ruled by a regent, Peter’s half-sister Sophia. Sophia dominated Russian politics, until Peter turned 17. At that point Peter began to conspire to force his half-sister to relinquish control of the Russian state. After a brief struggle he was able to force Sophia to become a nun (in effect forcing her out of the family). With his rule now unrestricted Peter’s first step was to begin looking for warm water ports to conquer. He wanted these ports because he believed that a strong navy would be necessary for Russia to strengthen herself. To this end, Peter invaded the Crimean Khanate, an Ottoman subject nation. After securing a nearly all of the Khanate in 1697, an uneasy armistice was reached (a treaty was never signed and fighting would flair up later). Peter took the peace as an opportunity to arrange “The Grand Embassy”. This embassy was a trip that Peter embarked on with other Russian diplomats with the purpose making alliances against the Turks and gaining knowledge of other nations internal machinations so that Peter could gain ideas of reforms to make to Russia. During the trip, Peter traveled in disguise in order to skip social engagements and protocols that a king would have been subject to when visiting other nations. He spent most of the trip in disguise even though it did not fool anyone familiar with the affairs of Russia, being that he was 6′ 10″. Although, he was unable to create alliances against the Turks, he was able to gain all sorts of knowledge that the he would later apply to Russia. Peter intended to spend more time abroad, but had to return to Russia early to crush a rebellion launched by the royal guard. After crushing the rebellion, Peter began a program of reforms. These reforms touched on every aspect of Russian life ranging from economics, to nobles and their conduct and everything in between. The next major thing that Peter did was join a coalition (which consisted of Denmark, Poland, and Saxony) against the Swedish Empire in 1700. When war broke out later that year, the Russian military was the first to be attacked by the Swedes and it was obliterated. Eventually the army had been rebuilt enough for it to occupy the Swedish holdings in the Baltic states. Seeing his opportunity to secure more warm water ports, Peter order the construction of a new capital on the Baltic sea, Saint Petersburg. After years of little conflict in Russia in 1708, Russian armies clashed with Swedish forces in the Ukraine. After delivering a decisive defeat to the Swedes, the Swedish king was forced to flee to the Ottoman Empire. Emboldened by his astonishing victory, Peter overestimated the strength of his forces and invaded the Ottoman Empire in 1710. The campaign ended disastrously with Peter being forced to give up a huge chunk of land taken from the Crimean Khanate, including his precious warm water coast line. The war with Sweden continue to be waged until 1718, when the Swedish King died, allowing for his heir to sue for peace. Through the peace, Peter gained the Baltic coast that he had wanted along with parts of modern day Finland. The last few years of Peter’s reign were relatively uneventful, except for Peter declaring Russia an empire instead of a kingdom. Peter died on February 8, 1725.

Significance

Peter the Great’s significance to Russian and world history comes from his military conquests and his vast reform program. Through his military conquest, Peter gained land that would become important to Russia and also greatly weakened two of the world’s strongest nations. The land that Peter conquered around the Baltic would be significant in allowing Russia to project it’s influence further, and also would serve as the point of Westernization for Russia.

The city of Saint Petersburg would go on to serve as a hub of trade that would allow European ideas and practices to seep into Russia, altering it’s character from a Eastern Slavic nation to that of a European nation. Not only that, but the construction of the city allowed for Russia to begin to become a European major power. It allowed easier contact and communication with other European nations, allowing for Russia to more easily make alliance and communicate it’s geopolitical wishes more easily.

In addition to the land that was conquered, Peter significantly reduced the power of two of the greatest powers of the day, Sweden and the Ottoman Empire. While less successful in weakening the Ottomans, the defeats that Peter delivered to them to begin to change the European perception of the Ottomans from the strong conquering force that it had been in the previous centuries, to that of an empire in decline. Peter’s actions against the Swedish Empire are quite significant because he was able to turn one of Europe’s strongest empires into a very vulnerable nation that was never able to fully recover.

The next significant thing that Peter did was begin a process of reforms in Russia. These reforms dramatically changed the landscape and power of Russia. Socially these reforms began a process that would replace Russia’s Slavic culture with one that is almost identical to that of the rest of Europe. Economic reforms to the country led to a more pervasive state that would hinder modernization of the country in the 19th century. For under Peter the government began to take a greater role in the economy, fixing prices, limiting profits, and even outright seizing profitable ventures on a whim. Militarily, Peter transformed the Russian military into a professional army with modern weapons and tactics along with creating a navy from scratch. This military would allow Russia to play a greater role in the world in the coming centuries.

In conclusion, Peter the Great was a man that was able to take a backwards nation and turn it into a European power through conquests and reforms, laying the foundations for the superpower that Russia would become.

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