Medal of Peter I marking the end of the streltsy rebellion of 1698 - the idealised portrait on this medal contrasts with the brutality of the man. Peter I the Great or Pyotr Alexeyevich Romanov (Pyotr I or Pyotr Velikiy) (9 June 1672 - 8 February 1725 [30 May 1672 - 28 January 1725 O.S.) ruled the Russian Empire from 7 May (27 April O.S.) 1682 until his death, jointly ruling before 1696 with his weak and sickly half-brother, Ivan V. Peter carried out a policy of "Westernization" and expansion that transformed the Tsardom of Russia into the Russian Empire, a major European power. Streltsy were the units of Russian guardsmen. Literally "shooter"; often translated as "musketeer," but more properly "harquebusier") in the 16th - early 18th centuries, armed with firearms (riflemen). They are also collectively known as Strelets Troops. 固opFoto