Peter the Great

Peter the Great ruled Russia from 1682-1725, and in 1721 declared Russia an empire and himself the Emperor. Peter the Great was the youngest son of Tsar Alexis by his second wife. He did not gain the throne easily. The eldest son first became ruler but he died at a young age. Peter was then chosen to rule but his older siblings staged a coup which resulted in Peter sharing the throne with his brother Ivan, under the regency of Ivan's older sister Sophia. Peter was sent from Moscow to his childhood home, where he developed skills that would help him overthrow Ivan and Sophia and keep the country despite later attempts at a coup. He played war games and learned European war tactics.

Sophia staged another coup but this time she was defeated and confined to a convent. Six years later, Ivan died and Peter became the sole ruler. At this point, Peter took a two year tour of Europe. He visited other rulers and worked as a ship builder in Holland. He learned much about European technology that he would later use in attempts to modernize Russia. Peter returned to Russia when he was told of another coup attempt instigated by Sophia. He used the European fighting tactics and European trained soldiers he had to fight off the coup. He had the defeated soldiers executed and hung their bodies outside Sophia's window of the convent.

Peter made many changes that helped to modernize Russia. Upon his return to Russia from his tour of Europe one of the first things he did was outlaw Russian styles of clothing and shave the beards of his nobles. He had a fleet of ships built and created a navy, which allowed him to lead Russia in its first attack by sea against the Turks, which gave Russia access to the Baltic Sea. Peter created military-technical schools and required the sons of the nobles to attend. He introduced Western culture in many other ways. He allowed various religions to exist and encouraged trade with other European countries. He also utilized European technology in the building of St. Petersburg. He also reformed the calender and simplified the alphabet.

Peter the Great was also known to be a tyrannical ruler. He enforced high taxes on his subjects that were very difficult for them to pay. Also, his reforms were not always popular. Some of them led to revolts which Peter the Great had to suppress. Peter the Great decided that the ruler should nominate his successor. The tsarship would no longer be a hereditary position. However, Peter died without nominating an heir and at his death the question of ascension to the throne was left unanswered.