Russia Under Peter the Great

The Russian Empire, under Ivan IV, the empire expanded from coast to coast, as the Cossacks and the troops stormed Siberia and checked the Mongolian Empire and signed treaties with China. However, Internal disputes with the aristocracy (boyars) and outside foreign threats lead to the overthrow of Muscovite rulers and the enthronement of Mikhail Romanov in 1613 and started the long line of the Romanov czars in Russia. By 1649, the serf system was completely in place thanks the Romanov czars and the peasant rights were not even acknowledged. Peter the Great came to power in 1689 and ruled until the 1725 and tried to transform Russia to become a European power.  He pushed unsuccessfully into the Ottoman Empire to gain warm-water ports near the black sea and even tried to liberate Constantinople in the name of Christianity. However, he was only successful in winning wars against Sweden and gaining a port as well as direct access to Europe.

Peter also sought to make Russia a world power by using European culture and technology to make the army stronger and used his power to control the Orthodox Church. He also began to industrialize Russia and increased the burdens of these reforms on the peasant population. By 1712, St. Petersburg becomes the new capital and seat of power for the Russian empire. During the reign of Catherine the Great in 1762 to 1796, Russia was at the height of its power and controlled vast amounts of land and had a strong economy based on natural resources. All three civilizations can be drawn into major parallels. Russia and China grew in power and size between 1500 and 1800 while Japan did not expand beyond its Islands and was more decentralized. Japan and Russia modernized its military more than China and Russia had the strongest navy of them all. As they all expanded, China and Russia was tolerant of religions and cultures but tried to assimilate the various groups under their culture. Japan chose the path of isolation as they viewed foreign influence and contact as a threat to traditional way of life.