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When Ivan’s dynasty came to an end in 1598, a period of anarchy known as the Time of Troubles followed.
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This period did not end until the Zemsky Sobor, or national assembly, chose Michael Romanov as the new czar in 1613.
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Peter the Great became czar in 1689. Like the other Romanov czars who preceded him, Peter was an absolutist monarch who claimed the divine right to rule.
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A long and hard-fought war with Sweden enabled Peter to acquire the lands he sought. On a marshland on the Baltic in 1703, Peter began the construction of a new city, St. Petersburg, his window on the West.
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Under Peter, Russia became a great military power. By his death in 1725, Russia was an important European state.
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The Romanov dynasty lasted until 1917. One of its most prominent members was Peter the Great.
