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Russia Engages the World, 1453-1825
1453 Through the Reign of Ivan the Terrible (1533-1584) The Time of Troubles to the First Romanovs (1598-1682) Peter the Great and His Legacy (1682-1762) The Age of Catherine the Great (1762-1801) The Reign of Emperor Alexander I (1801-1825)

                                     

Explore this Section:

Peter the Great and His Legacy (1682–1762): A Summary of Russian History
Russia Symbol Introduction
Russia Symbol The Early Years
Russia Symbol The Drive Toward Westernization
Russia Symbol The Drive Toward Empire
Russia Symbol The Historical Assessment
Russia Symbol Immediate Successors
Russia Symbol The Reign of "the Daughter"
Peter the Great and His Legacy (1682–1762): A Summary of World History
Europe
Eurasia


Russia's Globalization:
A Key

Events marked Russia Symbol are specific to Muscovy/Russia's internal development.
Those marked World Symbol are important world historical or cultural events.
Engagement Symbol indicates specific points of sociocultural or military engagement between Muscovy/Russia and foreign powers or individuals.




















 

 
     Peter’s Triumph

 
   Photographic Services & Permissions
  Cornelius Cruys (1657–1727)
Nieuw pas-kaart boek [A New Book of Charts]
Amsterdam: Hendrick Doncker, [1703–4]
NYPL, Map Division

In this allegorical title-page image, the foot of a youthful Tsar Peter rests on the maroon and gold crescent ensign of the Ottoman Empire, an allegory for his wresting of the Crimean city of Azov from the Ottomans in 1696. The River Don (in classical Greek, Tanais) is characterized by a merman with a horn of plenty from which flows its wealth.

Born Niles Olufson Olsen in Stavanger, Norway, Cornelius Cruys rose in the Dutch maritime service to a senior position at the Admiralty in Amsterdam. There, in 1697, he met Tsar Peter, who appointed him the first vice-admiral of the nascent Russian navy. An accomplished hydrographer, he produced this book of charts, the only example of his work known to survive.