Peter The Great's Foreign Policy

Peter Alexeyevich (1672-1725), better known as Peter I or Peter the Great was the ruler of the Tsardom of Russia and later the ruler of his own Russian Empire. He is referred to as one of the greater and more impactful leaders in not only Russian but European history. Peter is best known for his vast number of reforms and changes made to Russia’s government and society. One might say that Peter the Great “changed the game” for Russia. Though, not only did Peter change Russia and his Tsardom of Russia, but he impacted bordering nations and all of Europe. Peter the Great broke serious ground in Russia’s foreign policy. Dictionary.com defines foreign policy as “a policy pursued by a nation in its dealings with other nations,designed to achieve

Along with that he wanted to expand his kingdom throughout Asia and Europe. Throughout it all the main goal of Peter’s foreign affairs and policies were to get Russia on the diplomatic map of Russia, as well as become a great military power. In the book “Peter the Great”, by Paul Bushkovitch and in the book also entitled “Peter the Great” by Derek Wilson, the authors attempt to not only portray Peter the Great’s life but explain his ideas of foreign policy. They authors also show how his goals of getting Russia to a point of diplomatic power in Europe and giving strength to Russia’s military, effected bordering nations of Europe. The authors specifically indulged in Peter the Great’s foreign policy regarding the Great Northern War and as to how the great leader strived to create a military

Lucky for him, through his hard push towards military strength, he was extraordinarily difficult to defeat in battle. It was 1700 when Peter realized his desperate need for a sea port, specifically the warm waters of the Baltic Sea, which was run at the time by King Charles XII of the Swedish Empire. Peter took a totally offensive approach of attack as he was desperate for a trading port and a way to expand his Tsardom of Russia to the seas. He went head on along with his troops into the city of Narva in order to capture the Estonian port from Sweden and the King Charles XII. To Peter and his admiral, Fyodor Golovin, “the capture of the Estonian port of Narva from Sweden was to be the first step in opening the window into Europe” (Bushkovitch 109). Eager and unprepared, Peter was unlucky in the battle of Narva and was defeated in November of 1700. Peter now knew the strength of opposing armies throughout Europe, and that made him go the extra mile in achieving his goal of creating a military superpower. He bolstered his army with new weapons, horses, transportation, and new troops altogether. He was executing a plan to take over the Baltic Sea and continue his tear through Europe gaining land and bodies of water along the way. Peter seemed fully invested in retrieving the Baltic Sea’s control to his home of Russia. So it invested it seemed that he was totally willing to spare himself and his men