Leaders do what is necessary in order to create a stable and secure country, shaping the country however they please. Tsar Peter the Great was a secular reforming czar that sought to rid xenophobia, and westernize Russia in order to be more modern. To begin with, Peter the Great went through times of mental suffering in order to have such mindset of Russian reform. He broke away from his half-sister Sophia because she forced Peter to watch one of his family members to suffer and die. Peter was supposed to reign, but he had to co-reign with his half-siblings, so he ran off and built a wooden fortress by hand, by himself. He was a strong, tall man for his age because he measured up to six feet, seven inches. He had great strength …show more content…
Peter the Great had great strength that he learned a vital skill that was detrimental to his success. He learned ship building. This allowed him to build ships for travel over the Baltic Sea where he could trade with other empires and create alliances. Ships required a port, so Peter built a port for his ships. This port later became known as St. Petersburg of Russia. He travelled to numerous western European countries because he wanted to learn more about western culture since he was highly fascinated by these Western Europe ideas. He wanted to modernize and strengthen Russia by bringing these ideas and influences to his country. He was fascinated by weapons and foreign technology; these things, like the weapons, would help his growing army and western technology would assist in strengthening Russia so it can be a world power. Also, when Peter was travelling around to educate himself with western culture, he noticed that the Dutch and the English were growing powers, so he figured that an alliance with them would help Russia grow in power as well. This alliance would be very beneficial for Peter and it would help strengthen Russia. Another one of his reforms involved territorial expansion for Russia and this involved dominating other countries.