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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, Reforming Tsar
Aleksandr Menshikov
Empress Elizabeth
Maria Theresa, Archduchess of Austria, Queen of Hungary, and Queen of Bohemia
Voltaire


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.




















 

 


    

Aleksandr Menshikov (1673–1729), the son of a stable hand who once sold meat pies on the streets of Moscow, became one of Peter’s closest friends and aides, participating in the entire gamut of the tsar’s civil and military activities and rising to the title of prince. The most powerful official in Petrine Russia, Menshikov retained his power after Peter’s death. He had introduced Peter to his second and beloved wife, Catherine, and he engineered her succession to the throne, dominating her entire reign (1725–27). The next emperor, the young Peter II (r. 1727–30), was at first also under Menshikov’s control, but the prince overplayed his hand, and a competing faction exiled him to Siberia.


  

 

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