Russia’s Most Powerful Tsar
Peter the Great (1672 – 1725) was a towering figure. Both literally, in that he stood 6 foot 7 inches tall, and figuratively, in that he transformed Russia from a backwards medieval state, into a less backwards one that sought to westernize itself. To establish Russia as a great and powerful nation, he instituted great reforms that revolutionized both the state and society. Many Russian governmental institutions today trace their origins to his reign. Peter ascended the throne at age ten in 1682, and ruled jointly with his brother Ivan V until the latter’s death in 1696. Thereafter, Peter ruled alone as Tsar of All the Russias.
The Russia inherited by Peter was extremely backwards. For centuries, it had remained isolationist and rejected modernity while the rest of Europe had experienced the Renaissance and Reformation. So he set out set out to drag his realm into the modern world. Peter’s reforms were radical and far reaching, and were strongly resented and resisted by Russia’s medieval aristocracy and religious reactionaries. Many of them came to see him as the literal Antichrist. As see below, the powerful reformist tsar persisted, ignored his detractors, and steamrolled over them.