Peter the Great

Peter Alexeevich, also known as Peter the Great, is generally acknowledged to be the most outstanding of the Russian czars (Mano, 2010). For 29 years Peter ruled Russia. When Peter first came into unshared power, he felt that Russia was quite medieval compared to the rest of Europe. After his first year in power, he decided to leave Russia to discover what was going on in the western side of Europe. Upon his return, he began incorporating practices he had seen in the rest of Europe into Russia.

After Peter’s trip to the west, he began changing Russia. During his rule, Peter built a navy for Russia, built St. Petersburg, and brought western culture to Russia, allowing Russia to eventually become a great power. Peter also reformed laws around Western European practices. Peter the Great pushed Russia to be the power it is now.

Peter was born in June 9, 1672, in Moscow, the only son of Czar Alexis and Natalia Narishkina. Peter was not yet four years old when his father died ("Peter the Great." PDF file). Since Alexis also had thirteen children with his first wife, there were many lengthy and sometimes violent struggles over the succession to the throne. On one occasion, Peter even had to flee for his life. When Peter and his half-brother Ivan were confirmed to be the next rulers, there was a military revolt. The Streltsy revolt marked Peter for life (Massie, 52). Family blood was being spilled around him, and at age ten, he was helpless and unable to intervene. This revolt was one of the influential moments in Peter’s life. It was one of the moments that made him want to change Russia. Another influential moment was the summer of 1686, when Peter and a Dutch butler were visiting one the country houses that belonged to his family. In ...

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...udy of Russian history has been the actual significance of the Peter's reforms. To some scholars, these reforms simply cannot be overemphasized; to others, their importance has been greatly exaggerated. Most scholars who study that period conclude that, while some of Peter's reforms were relatively limited in their impact, the impact of his economic and military policies in particular was decisive. Peter the Great's military reforms effectively modernized Russia’s Army and Navy. By his death in 1725, Russia's military was a force to be reckoned with.

Peter the Great was one of the important Czars to Russia. Peter’s reforms modernized Russia, bringing Western culture to the nation. Peter made Russia a more powerful nation by giving it more land, a larger army and a powerful navy. Without Peter’s desire to reform his nation, Russia would not be the way it is today.