Peter the Great
Personality
- Peter the Great was very curious when he took power. Mainly because he not very educated.
- Peter ended up spending hours in the "German quarter" of Moscow. This was the area where Dutch, Scottish, English, and other foreign artisans and soldiers lived.
- Peter learned of the technology that Western European monarchs used in their powerful empires.
- Peter in 1697, set out to learn about Western ways and spent hours walking the streets of many European cities.
Accomplishments
- Peter the Great worked to build Russia's military power in his earliest days as Tsar.
- Peter created the largest standing army in Europe along with building a world -class navy from scratch.
- Peter also ended up setting out to expand Russia's borders to the west and south.
- Fought the Swedes in 1700.
- Ended in 1709 with Russian victory and gained territory along the Baltic Sea.
Policies
- Peter the Great had created the Westernization policy.
- Peter liked the ideas of Western Europe and he ended up forcing the onto Russia.
- Peter also wanted control over the church and nobles.
- He forced land owning nobles to serve the state in a civilian position or military position.
- He also forced these nobles to shave their beards and wear Western-style clothes.
Interesting Facts
- Peter signed a treaty with China that recognized their right to the lands north of Manchuria.
- Built St. Petersburg on land won from Sweden.
- Peter invited Italian architects and artisans to design great Western style palaces.
- When elite palace guards revolted, he captured 1000 rebels and tortured and executed them and left their bodies outside the palace walls to show his power.