THE MAKING OF MODERN EUROPE	387
and factory, cut off with his own hands the flowing beards,
moustaches, and robes of his nobles—as marks of the
Orientals—,compelled women to come out of their seclusion,
and built a new capital (St. Petersburg!*) to counteract the
influence of conservative Moscow. Peter indeed wanted to
" open a window" in the West; for Russia, in spite of
her size (more than equal to all the other countries of Europe
put together), was ice-bound in the North, had no access
to the sea either in the West or South, while Sweden, Poland,
Germany, Austria, and Turkey blocked her ways of ex-
pansion. Her history, ever since the days of Peter the Great,
has therefore been one of conflict with all these powers.
In order to establish contact with the West, Peter at first
tried to secure access to the Baltic. Here he found a for-
midable opponent in Charles XII of Sweden who displayed
the military prowess of an Alexander the Great. Russia
formed an alliance with Poland and Denmark to overpower
Sweden, but only discovered that Charles was more than a
match for all of them together. To create a diversion for
Peter in the South, Charles also incited the Turks against
Russia. However, when Charles died (1718), Russia made
a Treaty with Sweden by which she gained Livonia, Esthonia,
and other Swedish provinces at the eastern end of the
Baltic. Her attempt to secure a foothold in the South at
the expense of Turkey created the "Eastern Question"
which will be dealt with later.
The * spiritual' successor of Peter the Great in the pur-
suit of his European policy was Catherine II (1762-96).
A Germain by birth she extended and established foreign
influence within Russia. This had both good and evil re-
sults of a far-reaching character. ' Adventurous, ambitious,
despotic, corrupt, she sought by every available means to
continue the work of making Russia a supreme European