Peter the Great

Walked the
streets to learn the
western ways.
Took the
throne at 10.
Learned things
from his people.
Brought
people in for
westernization.
Most
autocratic of Europes
absolute monarchs.
Forced boyans
into service.
Tortured/execu
ted rebels and left
their bodies outside
the walls for months.
Created the
largest standing army
in Europe.
1709 - Beat
Sweden for territory
along the Baltic Sea.
Built St.
Petersburg.

Vs.

Catherine the Great

Embraced
Western ideas.
Determined to
expand Russian
borders.
Serfdom
increased.
Wanted the
warm water port on
the Black Sea.
Absolute
monarchs.
Waged war.
Both
reorganized the
bureaucracy.

German
princess by birth.
Married Peter
III.
1762 officers
loyal to her murdered
her husband.
Reorganized
the provincial
government.
Serious
student of French
thinkers who led the
Enlightenment.
She was a
ruthless monarch.
She seized the
Black Sea warm water
port in 1774.
Partitions of
Poland.
Codified laws.
She began
state-sponsored
education for both
boys and girls.