The reign of Peter the Great (1682–1725) proved such a watershed in Russian history that it has become customary to speak of the pre-Petrine and post-Petrine eras. This division gained currency even during the lifetime of the great emperor, whose panegyrists described the period before 1700 as dark, "medieval," hidebound, and backward. Once Peter assumed sole power, orators and writers described Russia as enlightened, modern, and progressive, as having experienced a kind of resurrection.

St. Petersburg, Peter’s capital, whose construction he oversaw personally, became associated with the europeanized, bureaucratized state of the post-Petrine period, while Moscow, the old capital, housed those who idealized the traditions and customs of Old Russia. Indeed, after Peter and until the present day, intellectuals remain divided between those who relish the old way and call themselves Slavophiles and those who believe that Russia’s future lies within a European framework and call themselves Westernizers.