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Peter the Great
(1672 - 1725) Russia

Peter the Great

Czar

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Peter the GreatHe succeeded to the throne aged 10, in 1682, on the death of his brother Czar Feodor, and assumed control of the government in 1689.

After a successful campaign against the Turks in 1696, he visited Holland and England to study Western techniques, and worked in Dutch and English shipyards.

On his return to Russia he set out to reorganize yhe country on Western lines; the army was modernized, a fleet was built, the administrative and legal systems were remodelled, education was encouraged, and the church was brought under state control.

In order to secure an outlet to the Baltic, Peter undertook a war with Sweden (1700-21), which resulted in the acquisition of Estonia and part of Latvia and Finland.

Peter the GreatOn the Baltic coast Peter built his new capital, St. Petersburg. A war with Persia (1722-23) added Baku to Russia.

Prior to the 18th century, homosexuality was widespread and tolerated in Russia.

Only when Peter the Great introduced his Westernizing reforms did same-sex relations between men become illegal and intolerable.

Ironically, Peter himself was known to be bisexual, and acted to minimize the impact of the changes in the laws regarding sodomy.

Peter's favorite was a baker boy named Alexander Menshikov, who was the tsar's orderly, then a general, and eventually a prince.

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