The treaty of Stolbova brings into Swedish hands the coast round the Gulf of Finland, ending Russian access to the Baltic

A Cossack rebellion leads to the eventual transfer of their territory from Poland to Russia

The Russian empire, expanding eastwards through Siberia, reaches the Pacific coast

Nikon becomes patriarch of all Russia and introduces reforms which cause the Old Believers to form a breakaway sect

The 17-year-old Peter the Great becomes co-tsar of Russia with his half-brother Ivan V

Peter the Great makes an unexpected raid down the river Don and captures Azov from the Crimean Tatars

The Russian tsar, Peter I, studies western European technology, working as a ship's carpenter in Dutch and English shipyards

Peter the Great makes a symbolic gesture of reform in trimming his boyars' beards

Poland, Russia and Denmark attack Sweden, beginning the 21-year Northern War

Peter the Great sets up numerous schools and commercial enterprises to enable Russia to compete in Europe

Peter the Great falls for a Lithuanian serf, Catherine, who becomes his life-long companion

Peter the Great founds the port and city of St Petersburg, giving Russia access to the Baltic

The tsar formally marries Catherine, his mistress for nearly ten years (though they may have married secretly five years earlier)

The tsarevitch Alexis, heir to Peter the Great, dies from violence inflicted on him in prison

In the treaty of Nystad Sweden cedes Estonia to Russia together with most of Latvia (the rest of which soon follows)

With the transfer of Swedish territory on the Baltic coast, Russia becomes the dominant power in the region

In a ceremony in St Petersburg's cathedral Peter the Great has himself proclaimed 'emperor of all Russia'

The Russian tsar Peter the Great dies and is succeeded by his wife as the empress Catherine I

The Russian empress Catherine the Great secures the throne of Poland for one of her lovers, as Stanislaw II

Catherine the Great founds the Hermitage as a court museum attached to the Winter Palace in St Petersburg

A border incident at Balta, in the southern Ukraine, sparks a war between Russia and Turkey that will last six years

Russia, Prussia and Austria agree a treaty enabling them to divide the spoils in the first partition of Poland

The first partition of Poland begins the process of Lithuania being progressively absorbed into Russia

In the treaty of Kuchuk Kainarji, ending the recent Russo-Turkish war, the Ottoman empire cedes the Crimea to Russia

The empress Catherine the Great annexes the Crimean peninsula, giving Russia a presence in the Black Sea