Peter the Great, tsar and later emperor of Russia is coupled to the Westernization of Russia and its rise as a great power.
Peter was born in Moscow through the second marriage of his father, Alexis I. Alexis I. ruled Russia from 1645 to 1676, and in his first marriage had produced 13 children, but only two had survived him. After his wife died in 1669 Alexis married Natalia Naryshkin in 1671, and the next year Peter was born, a strong and healthy child. Fyodor III, after succeeding his father as tsar, died without an heir in 1682. A harsh struggle for the throne between the two families, the Naryshkins and Miloslavskys, resulted. The Naryshkins gained an early victory, and nine year old Peter was announced tsar in April of 1682. His mother became regent because of Peter's youth, while relatives and friends secured leading positions in the state. …
