Peter the Great or Peter the Terrible.
Peter I is known in history as Peter the Great, but some look at him as a devil. It is surprising how views about one man could differ so drastically. It is easy to see how people's views of him can tip to either extreme when one looks at how evenly balanced the pros and cons of his reign were. He is viewed as a transformer of Russian society and a link between old and new Russia, but both of these characteristics can be taken in positive or negative ways. .
One popular view of Peter I is that he was a transformer of Russian society. When Peter ruled under the regency of Sophia, Peter's mother would send him to Preobrazhenskoye. Upon these trips he would meet several foreigners and experience different cultures through the German Suburb which was near by. The German Suburb was inhabited by different cultures. "The German Suburb was, nevertheless, much frequented by Russians who found stimulations in the varied intellectual contacts which it offered-1 "Peter made numerous friends and acquaintances among its inhabitants." Peter I gained sole rule over Russia he realized that since Russia was isolated from all the cultural advancement in the rest of Europe, during the Cossack rule. He decided that he would force a cultural advancement in Russia.
The first way he started to transform Russia is through religion. There was and always had been a struggle between the Czar and the Patriarch. He deals with this by abolishing the Patriarch. He does it in a subtle way, so he would not cause uproar. He said that when Patriarch Adrian died, he said that there would not be a replacement. When Patriarch Adrian did die he created a religious council to to advise him on how to deal with religious issues. Peter next turned towards Political reform. He created a Collegial Bureaucracy, which meant that in each department of state there would be a college to train people to work in that department.