Peter the Great

Biography

Peter I became tsar as a boy in 1682, first sharing the throne with his half-brother Ivan V under the regency of his half-sister Sophia. He took personal control in 1689 and, after a long journey through western Europe in 1697-98, set out to remake Russia on western lines.

He built a navy, reorganised the army on European models and fought Sweden in the Great Northern War (1700-1721). After an early defeat at Narva he won decisively at Poltava in 1709, and the Treaty of Nystad gave Russia the Baltic coast. In 1703 he founded Saint Petersburg on land taken from Sweden and later made it the capital.

At home he created the Senate and administrative colleges, the Table of Ranks, a poll tax and state control of the Orthodox Church through the Holy Synod. He forced the nobility to serve the state and to adopt western dress and customs. In 1721 he took the title of Emperor. His reforms were costly and often brutal, and his son Alexei died after torture in 1718.