Peter the Great (Peter I or Peter Alexeyevich, 9 June [30 May in the Old Style calendar] 1672 – 8 February [28 January in the Old Style calendar] 1725, reigned 1682-1725) was the Russian tsar who had enough of his country being a conservative Eastern European country, and decided to make it a Western power like Britain, France, etc. This was less a determined program of reforms, however, than a succession of impromptu solutions to current problems, which mostly focused on the technological and military aspects. Combined with his unstable temperament, firm belief in his divinely-sanctioned autocracy, and occasionally monstrous, quite pathological cruelty, this meant that his reforms ruined the country at least as much as they changed it. Despite expanding borders, the population of Russia dropped by a full 15% during his reign, as countless people fled to Sweden, Poland, Turkey, Persia, or China to get as far from him as humanly possible. When he died, the newborn Empire tottered on the brink of total collapse, with a devastated economy, terrorized population, and an enormous army, the main purpose of which was to keep that population terrorized and to collect taxes in grueling expeditions which saw them billeted with the starving peasants for a full six months out of every year. His trusted lieutenants (especially the famous Menshikov) were capable, brave, clever, and certainly among the most corrupt kleptocrats ever known to history. His new capital cost countless lives. And his reform of the system of inheritance proved an absolute disaster, as it allowed each monarch to designate their own successor. This led to a century of the Guard regiments (which he created and relied upon) interfering in every single change of person on the throne, until the failed Decembrist rebellion of 1825 finally put an end to their meddling.
He ascended the throne of Russia as a co-regent to his physically and intellectually disabled brother Ivan V. After winning a battle for political dominance with his sister Sophia, he triumphed as the undisputed leader of Russia. Then he left the country and travelled to the West to learn its science and technology, and returned as an accomplished ship-builder.
After winning several wars against the Ottoman and Swedish empires, Peter the Great annexed lands neighboring two seas, the Azov Sea and the Baltic Sea. Then he founded Saint Petersburg, a European-inspired city that was meant to be a capital of the future Russian Empire.
Peter's reforms after that meant basically the gradual dismantling of the old Muscovite Tsardom and the creation of a new state, the Russian Empire, even going so far as to change his official royal title from Tsar to “Imperator” (Latin for Emperor). He introduced a new legal mechanism, the Table of Ranks, that provided a chance for talented and lucky commoners to make it into nobility, created many new noble bloodlines and conducted many other reforms. Most notoriously, he implemented a "beard tax" that required Russian men to either pay an annual fee to keep their beards (which were considered signs of piousness in Russia at the time, but were comparatively unfashionable in Western Europe), or have them shaven off, often by force. Modern Russian culture, economy and politics are full of things introduced by Peter the Great: he invented the modern form of the Cyrillic alphabet, started printing newspapers, built the first heavy industries, taught Russians to drink coffee and smoke tobacco, and many, many more. He also had an attempt at independence by the Cossack Hetmanate led by Hetman Ivan Mazepa bloodily crushed (sacking and razing their then-capital Baturyn and massacring its inhabitants), which has caused him to remain infamous in the collective memory of Ukrainians (Vladimir Putin even went as far as comparing himself to him during his large scale invasion in 2022).
Eventually, Peter's claim of imperial status was recognized by foreign powers, and Russia officially became an empire in 1721. He died of cold after rescuing a soldier from one of early St. Petersburg's many deluges caused by tidal activity and unpredictable winds. The Russian Empire founded by him was one of the world's superpowers until Red October, and he was a cult figure in Russia until the late 19th century, when the more conservative Muscovite-esque political ideas reached dominance.
He notably had a dysfunctional relationship with his son Alexei Petrovich. Which is to say, Alexei despised his father, and fled to Austria and the protection of the Holy Roman Emperor because he (correctly) thought that Peter wanted to kill him. Alexei was lured back to Russia under false promises of amnesty, then Peter had him tortured to death on false charges of treason. Oddly, Peter gets much less infamy for this than Ivan the Terrible does for killing his son in a fit of rage and immediately regretting it.
Appears in the following works:
Comic Books
- He has a minor appearance in the B.P.R.D. "1945'' storyline, when Varvara, the Director of the Special Sciences Service (the Soviet counterpart to the B.P.R.D.), explains her origins to Professor Trevor Bruttenholm: Peter made a deal with a troika of demons to grant him victory in the Great Northern War, at the cost of his heart and the lives of all his sons, both living and future. The third demon was to take his soul, but decided instead to remain on Earth, so Peter got to keep that (though losing his heart made life miserable for him and everyone around him).
Film
Live Action TV
- In the 1986 miniseries Peter the Great, he's played by Maximilian Schell.
- He is largely a case of Present Absence in The Great and is referenced repeatedly by other characters, but he makes an actual appearance in season 2 as a ghost/hallucination speaking to Peter III (here portrayed as his son to simplify the story).
Music
- The pre-choruses of Sabaton's song "Poltava"
each consist of Tsar Peter taunting Carolus Rex at the eponymous Battle of Poltava during The Great Northern War. Peter historically won the battle decisively, forcing his Swedish rival to flee into exile in the Ottoman Empire and dooming Sweden's imperial ambitions for good.
Video Games
- He appears as the leader of Russia in Civilization IV and VI. True to his accomplishments, Peter's leader ability "The Grand Embassy" in VI allows him to gain Science and Culture from more advanced trade partners.
- In Cossacks: European Wars, the latter part of the Russian campaign happens under his reign.
- In Empire: Total War, he is the ruler of Russia at the start of the Grand Campaign in 1700.
Western Animation
- The Time Warp Trio episode "What's So Great About Peter?" has Sam, Samantha and Fred dealing with him and having to help him build St. Petersburg in exchange for not killing one of Sam's ancestors.
