Peter I
Peter I, known as Peter the Great (1627-1725). Tsar and emperor of Russia. He became joint tsar with his elder but incompetent half-brother Ivan in 1682 and assumed full control of the government in 1689. Having disguised himself as a minor embassy official he visited Prussia, Hanover, and Amsterdam in 1697, gaining considerable information about the countries and spending some time working as a shipwright. Following a visit to England (1698) he returned to Russia to follow a policy of reform and modernization along the lines of the Western cities he had visited. During the war with Sweden (1700-21) he gained a section of territory on which the new capital, St Peters-butt, was founded (1703), giving Russia access to the Baltic Sea and “a window on Europe”. He took the title of emperor in 1721.
