Peter the great biography video of alberta

Peter the Great (1672-1725) was an influential Russian Tsar who pursued a policy of westernisation and economic development, transforming Russia from a backward agrarian economy to greater openness and western orientation.

Through military success, he also increased the boundaries of Russia, making the Russian Empire an important military power.

“Alas! I have civilized my own subjects; I have conquered other nations; yet I have not been able to civilize or to conquer myself.

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Attributed to Peter the Great in Sholto Percy and Reuben Percy, The Percy Anecdotes (1826)

Early life

Peter was born in Moscow, the only son of Czar Alex to his father’s second wife, Natalia Narishkina.

Peter the great biography video of alberta

Peter had 13 half-brothers and sisters to his father’s first wife. When Peter was just four years old, his father Czar Alex died, leaving a power vacuum over who would inherit the throne. From 1682-1696, he ruled as co-monarch with his chronically ill half-brother Ivan V.

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