(Decider) How Russia Became a Great Nation By LOSING a Battle in 1695

Note: Depending on interest shown for this article, every two weeks or so I will be posting educational (hopefully) articles with titles that will start with (Decider) or (Deceiver). ‘Decider’ willfocus on people whose decisions made a significant positive impact on world history. ‘Deceiver’ will focus on people whose decisions made the world a worse place to live via them being deceivers, frauds, or just general assholes. Let’s get started.
Peter The Great – a very brief bio, and what motivated him
Peter The Great (1672-1725) became Tsar in 1689. (Well, actually, it was a joint Tsar-ship with his mentally retarded brother, Ivan … the result of the Kremlin Guard launching a coup d’etat. Ivan died six years later). Peter was a member of the Romanov Dynasty (1613-1825). When Peter took over in 1689 Russia already stretched from the Polish border to the Pacific. Peter did add some small, yet terrifically strategic important, territory. However, Peter accomplished much greater good for Russia than merely acquiring territory.

This post was published at The Burning Platform on 19th September 2014.