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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.




















 

 
Engagement Symbol  Russians Learn the Art of French Fortifications
Russians Learn the Art of French Fortifications
Photographic Services & Permissions

François Blondel (1618–1686)
Novaia manera, ukrepleniiu gorodov [The New Manner of Fortifying Cities]
Moscow: [Pechatnyi Dvor], 1711
NYPL, Slavic and Baltic Division

As a youth, Peter received much of his education from the men of the foreign quarter in Moscow. They taught him military and naval arts and convinced the future tsar that Russia lagged behind the other countries of Europe in this area and that it was his mission to end that backwardness. This task required the translation of the latest foreign treatises on all aspects of warfare. This copper-engraved frontispiece, for a text originally published in France, depicts Pallas Athena, surrounded by the accoutrements of modern warfare – calipers, a T square, maps, etc. – with a classical encampment in the background.