ablished, but all books must be first read by the imperial
censors. The duties of each class of society were carefully written
down in a new law and the entire system of civil and criminal laws was
gathered into a series of printed volumes. The old Russian costumes
were abolished by Imperial decree, and policemen, armed with scissors,
watching all the country roads, changed the long-haired Russian mou-jiks
suddenly into a pleasing imitation of smooth-shaven west. Europeans.

In religious matters, the Tsar tolerated no division of power. There
must be no chance of a rivalry between an Emperor and a Pope as had
happened in Europe. In the year 1721, Peter made himself head of the
Russian Church. The Patriarchate of Moscow was abolished and the Holy
Synod made its appearance as the highest source of authority in all
matters of the Established Church.

Since, however, these many reforms could not be success-ful while the
old Russian elements had a rallying point in the town of Moscow, Peter
decided to move his government to a new capital. Amidst the unhealthy
marshes of the Baltic Sea the Tsar built this new city. He began to
reclaim the land in the year 1703. Forty thousand peasants worked for
years to lay the foundations for this Imperial city. The Swedes attacked
Peter and tried to destroy his town and illness and misery killed tens
of thousands of the peasants. But the work was continued, winter and
summer, and the ready-made town soon began to grow. In the year 1712, it
was officially de-clared to be the "Imperial Residence." A dozen years
later it had 75,000 inhabitants. Twice a year the whole city was flooded
by the Neva. But the terrific will-power of the Tsar created dykes and
canals and the floods ceased to do harm. When Peter died in 1725 he was
the owner of the largest city in northern Europe.

Of course, this sudden growth of so dangerous a rival had been a source
of great worry to all the neighbours. From his side, Peter had watched
with interest the many adventures of his Baltic rival, the kingdom
of Sweden. In the year 1654, Christina, the only daughter of Gustavus
Adolphus, the hero of the Thirty Years War, had renounced the throne
and had gone to Rome to end her days as a devout Catholic. A Protestant
nephew of Gustavus Adolphus had succeeded the last Queen of the House of
Vasa. Under Charles X and Charles XI, the new dynasty had brought
Sweden to its highest point of development. But in 1697, Charles XI d