A man who can be said to have created a country is without doubt worthy of a place among the successful men of the world. Such a man was Peter the Great of Russia, and his greatest works and reforms were planned and entered upon while he was yet a young man. When but nine years old, he was crowned czar, together with his older but weak-minded brother, their sister Sophia being regent. From his earliest years Peter was restless and ambitious, running wild on the streets, fighting with the depraved youth he found there, organizing them into companies as soldiers, and with them engaging in real battles on the streets of Moscow, battles resulting often in the death of some of the contestants.
In 1689 he demanded the throne of Sophia, and with the help of the foreigners in the Russian service, he was able to overthrow his sister and take his place at the head of the Russian government at the age of seventeen. Tho so young, and with very little education, save in rough, crude lines, he had a grasp of affairs that soon brought him to prominence. His association with the Russians had shown him their conditions, and the many different nationalities with which he had come in contact in the capital had taught him that the western nations were far in advance of his own country. Really the first to grasp the true situation, he determined to better conditions.
In the days of his unrestrained childhood he had learned to navigate a boat, an accomplishment little known among the Russians at that time, having access to the sea only on the Arctic, ice-bound half the year, and now when he came into authority, his first thought was to create a navy, modeling it after the Western navies. Realizing the need of seaports for such a scheme, Archangel on the White Sea being the only one Russia could then boast, Peter sought an outlet through the Black Sea, and in 1696 he wrested Azov from the Turks. Engineers, architects, artisans of all kinds were welcomed in Peter's realm, to build ships, establish and organize armies, and teach his people the Western civilization.
So filled was he with the idea that as soon as he could leave the affairs of state, he went himself to Holland and England, where in disguise he worked as a laborer in order to learn first-hand ship-building and kindred trades and pursuits. He planned to examine the Austrian army at Vienna, but news came of a revolt at home, and he hastened back to quell the uprising. But as a result of his visit, printing and a system of education, with many lines of manufacturing and other industries, were introduced.
The internal difficulties were settled with much bloodshed, heartless cruelty characterizing the punishment of the partisans of the rebellious leaders. Once settled, the czar looked toward the Baltic where he had designed for years to found a seaport. Sweden owned the territory, but with a policy characteristic of the Russians, he proceeded to take it. For many years the Swedes repelled the invasions, but, as Peter realized from the first, the Russians learned much from these defeats, and in 1721 Sweden made peace by which Russia gained the territory bordering on the Baltic Sea, giving him the much-desired access to the sea. In the meantime, Azov had been lost, but Peter now turned all his attentions to the new port, which was named St. Petersburg, built at great cost of money and life at the mouth of the Neva, a swampy, unhealthful place, where the winters are long and severe, but in a position to serve the purpose of the ambitious founder.
The later years of his life were devoted to improving and beautifying St. Petersburg, working to advance his kingdom in every way. As a young man, Peter I. was wilful and quick-tempered, as a ruler, partial and cruel perhaps, but his untiring zeal for the betterment of his people, his devotion to home interests, and his grasp of governmental affairs, and the radical and effective reforms that resulted, entitle him without question to the name "the Great."