Peter the Great was born on June 9, 1672 in Moscow, Russia, and died on February 8, 1725. Peter the Great’s reign, was the turning point for Russia, and his rule is what sent Russia toward the promise of becoming one of the world’s superpowers during the Cold War. Peter the Great ruled jointly with his “elder half-brother Ivan” until his death in 1696 (Hughes). Peter the Great was named the Great for a reason; his legacy was a “program of extensive reform known as Westernization, and by the establishment of Russia as a major European power” (“Peter”). His start of his expansion and reforms began similar to those of Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar, people began to fear his power, and feared his countries strength. …show more content…
But, Peter knew that if Russia wanted any chance of becoming a great ruling Empire, they would have to make sacrifices and soon his people began to see that their ruler would take Russia past expectations and prove to Europe they deserved to compete in the big leagues. Peter began immersing himself in “military activities” and made him knowledgeable in the practice of “navigation, carpentry, stonecutting, and printing”, he did this so that he could obtain information from the outside world, and become familiar with the Western’s customs and technology (“Peter”). However, his family did not want anything to do with westernization and did everything in their power to sway his interest, specifically my marriage, but when Peter’s brother Ivan died, Peter, made it his mission to further push Russia outside it’s comfort zone, for he was a Tsar, and the job of a Tsar, was to let his Empire …show more content…
His rule and his demands were tiring and exhausting of his people but he “single-handedly transformed Russia form a backward fringe nation into a major modern power”, which was impressive, since, his opponents had such an advantage (“Peter”). All Peter the Great wanted was Russia to become a nation that the rest of Europe would envy and respect, and they did in the end. The Tsar achieved his goal, through brutal reformations, and complete structure changes of social customs. Peter knew that westernization would be difficult and burdensome, but he refused to be deterred and he prevailed in the end. Peter the Great will forever be known as a ruler who refused to let his country fall behind. Peter the Great will forever instill hope, hope that through hard work, discipline, and determination, anything is