Overview
Peter I, the Great, was one of the most famous rulers in history. He ruled first as czar of Russia and later became Russia's first emperor. Peter transformed Russia from an isolated and backward country into a great European power.
St. Petersburg, which served as the capital of the Russian Empire through much of the 1700's, was founded as a showcase for Peter's efforts to modernize Russia. The city developed into a great center of Russian culture and counted among its citizens many talented composers, writers, painters, and dancers. Its famous Winter Palace is now the home of the Hermitage, one of the world's great museums.
Peter the Great was an imposing man. Tireless, restless, and insatiably curious, he stood nearly 7 feet tall in his boots and could bend horseshoes with his bare hands. He mastered more than 20 trades, including shoemaking, carpentry, and watchmaking. After visiting an anatomical museum, he considered himself an expert on surgery and sometimes operated on his followers. His obsession was to restore Russia to the glory it knew as Kievan Rus, the first East Slavic state. Established in the late 800's as a trading center, Kiev, its capital, had become one of Europe's greatest centers of commerce and culture by the 1000's.
There is no doubt that Peter made great changes in Russia. But he dealt harshly with people who opposed the reforms. He also taxed the Russian people heavily to fund his projects and forced thousands of Russians to work on them. And Peter extended serfdom, a system under which the majority of Russian peasants lived in conditions little better than slavery.