Peter I (1682–1725, ruling independently from 1689) introduced advanced systems of state and military administration in Russia and pursued an active foreign policy in both western and southern directions. In the west, seeking to restore to Russia its northwestern lands—Ingria and Karelia—lost during the Time of Troubles, the young tsar launched his active diplomatic career with the “Grand Embassy” to Europe (1697–1698). In 1700, he entered the war against Sweden in alliance with Saxony and Denmark. The establishment of a permanent mass regular army and navy enabled Russia to defeat Sweden in the Great Northern War (1700–1721), gain broad access to the Baltic Sea, and join the ranks of Europe’s great powers. As Europe’s economic and political center of gravity shifted northward to the Baltic, the transfer of the Russian capital to St. Petersburg allowed the Russian Empire (proclaimed in 1721) to become a key player in the emerging “Great Game.”
In the south, Peter I sought to secure Russia’s access to the Sea of Azov through wars with the Ottoman Empire and to extend the empire’s influence along the Caspian coast toward the Caucasus, Persia, and Central Asia.
During Peter’s reign, the establishment of new foreign-policy institutions—the Ambassadorial Office and, from 1717, the Collegium of Foreign Affairs—created a network of permanent diplomatic missions abroad and formed a professional diplomatic corps.
After Peter’s death in 1725, his successors continued the foreign-policy course he had initiated. Despite succession crises and a series of palace coups, by the end of the eighteenth century the Russian Empire had significantly expanded its borders in the west and south through successful wars and skillful diplomacy. Throughout the century, Russia maintained a strategic alliance with Austria in its rivalry with France. Russian dominance in Poland, first established during Peter’s reign, continued thereafter. Under Empress Anna Ioannovna (1730–1740), Russia and Austria supported their candidate in the Polish Succession War (1733–1735), ensuring his victory. The Russo-Turkish War of 1735–1739 shifted the strategic initiative in the south decisively in Russia’s favor. During the reign of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna (1741–1761), although Russia gained no new European territories, it strengthened its alliance with Austria through participation in the Seven Years’ War.
The reign of Catherine II (1762–1796) marked a decisive shift of Russia’s military and diplomatic focus southward within the “Great Game.” Through victories over the Ottoman Empire, Russia extended its borders along the Black Sea coast to the Dniester River and annexed Crimea and Kuban. Responding to Prussia’s and Austria’s demands for territorial compensation, Catherine II agreed to the First Partition of Poland (1772). By the end of her reign, the empire’s borders expanded further west through two additional partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Russia’s military potential and international influence as one of Europe’s five great powers (alongside France, Britain, Austria, and Prussia) had grown substantially.
