Peter the great peter the great (1672-1725) is probably the of all the russian tsars. under his rule, russia being a poor farming society into an empire as strong as the other european powers. peter toured europe, sometimes in disguise to recognised, and learned about western culture and science. returning to russia, he to his army and government to make russia more like europe, especially germany. he much of his time fighting wars, first against the ottoman empire and then against sweden. he founded st petersburg, his most lasting contribution to russia, on some land he conquered along the baltic sea. a gateway to europe, st petersburg became the new-capital kingdom. in 1725, after bravely trying to rescue some drowning sailors, he ended up with a bad cold and died a later.