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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.




















 

 

  Petersburg’s Majesty
 
  Petersburg’s Majesty
“ View of the Neva River,” engraving from:
Mikhail Ivanovich Makhaev (1716–1770)
Plan stolichnago goroda Sanktpeterburga [Plan of the Capital City of St. Petersburg]
St. Petersburg: Imperatorskaia Akademiia Nauk, 1753
NYPL, Slavic and Baltic Division, Bates-Pantuhoff Collection

As part of the fiftieth anniversary celebrations of the city of St. Petersburg, Peter the Great’s daughter, the Empress Elizabeth (r. 1741–61), commissioned a series of views and plans of the city her father founded. Under the direction of the Academy of Sciences, the project retained the services of the Venetian artist, stage designer, and innovative engraver Giuseppe Valeriani (d. 1761), who trained Mikhail Makhaev and other Russians in the latest techniques for capturing and representing vast public spaces on paper.