Peter the Great

or Pyotr Alexeyevich (1672–1725) ruled the Tsardom of Russia and later the Russian Empire. With numerous successful wars, he expanded the Tsardom into a huge empire that became a major European power. He created a cultural shift by replacing the traditionalist and medieval social and political system with a modern, scientific, European-oriented and rationalist system. He moved the capital of Russia from Moscow to the city that he created from scratch: St Petersburg.