Peter the Great Пётр Алексе́евич Рома́нов Пётр Вели́кий By: Colin Casey

Childhood Early in Peter’s life his half sister Sophia led a revolt and killed several of Peter’s family members. Sophia then let Peter be tsar but would pass on instructions through him. As peter grew older he took more and more power until he forced Sophia to give up her royal name.

Reforms Peter’s main goal was to make Russia similar to the west. In order to resemble western culture Peter forced Russian nobility to shave their beards. In the year 1700 peter changed the Russian calendar into the same one we use today. The Russian Orthodox Church was reformed.

Ports and the Navy Peter planned to take many ports on the White Sea, Baltic Sea, and Black Sea In 1698 Peter founded the first Navy base In order to gain control of the Baltic Sea Peter declared war on Sweden in what became known as the Great Northern War Russia gained land from Sweden at the end of this war.

Travels Abroad In order to defeat the Ottoman Empire Peter traveled to many European countries. While in England he learned about building a navy and building cities. These lessons helped build St. Petersburg. It is also because of these lessons that Peter decided to reform Russia and make it similar to the advanced Eastern countries of Europe.

St. Petersburg St. Petersburg started out as a fort to defend from the Swedish. The city was the idea of Peter the Great. In 1712 the city had grown enough to be the capital of Russia (it was already being called the capital by 1704). Later the city would be build even more by Catherine the Great. After the October revolution the cities name was changed from Petrograd to Leningrad.

Works Cited petersburg.com/history/first-years.asp petersburg.com/history/first-years.asp