I
born с 903
died Jan. 30, 969
Tsar of Bulgaria (927–969).
The second son of Simeon I , he inherited the throne on his father's death in 927. Early in his reign, Peter faced revolts by his brothers, which were suppressed, and he also endured raids by the Magyar s, who crossed Bulgaria on their way to the Byzantine Empire. His reign, however, was generally peaceful, and he made important gains against the Byzantines, receiving the title emperor from them. He also forced the Byzantines to recognize the independence of the Bulgarian church, and he married the granddaughter of the Byzantine emperor Romanus I Lecapenus . In 965 war broke out with the Byzantines; Peter subsequently suffered a stroke and retired to a monastery, where he died two years later. Canonized by the Bulgarian Orthodox church, Peter was deeply religious and an active church builder. During his reign, the Bogomil heresy first appeared.
II
born July 11, 1844, Belgrade, Serbia
died Aug. 16, 1921, Topčider, near Belgrade, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes
King of Serbia (1903–18) and of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (later Yugoslavia) from 1918.
The son of Prince Alexander Karadjordjević, who was forced to abdicate in 1858, he lived with his family in exile. He fought with the French army in the Franco-Prussian War and with the Serbian revolt against the Turks (1875). After the assassination of Alexander Obrenović (1903), Peter was elected king of Serbia. He advocated a constitutional government and won recognition for his liberal policies. In World War I, he allied Serbia with France and Russia but was defeated by the Central Powers. In 1918 he returned to Belgrade and was proclaimed king of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes.
III
Russian Pyotr Alekseyevich known as Peter the Great
born June 9, 1672, Moscow, Russia
died Feb. 8, 1725, St. Petersburg
Tsar of Russia (1682–1725).
Son of Tsar Alexis , he reigned jointly with his half brother Ivan V (1682–96) and alone from 1696. Interested in progressive influences from western Europe, he visited several countries there (1697–98). After returning to Russia, he introduced Western technology, modernized the government and military system, and transferred the capital to the new city of St. Petersburg (1703). He further increased the power of the monarchy at the expense of the nobles and the Orthodox church. Some of his reforms were implemented brutally, with considerable loss of life. Suspecting that his son Alexis was conspiring against him, he had Alexis tortured to death in 1718. He pursued foreign policies to give Russia access to the Baltic and Black seas, engaging in war with the Ottoman Empire (1695–96) and with Sweden in the Second Catherine I . For raising Russia to a recognized place among the great European powers, Peter is widely considered one of the outstanding rulers and reformers in Russian history, but he has also been decried by nationalists for discarding much of what was unique in Russian culture, and his legacy has been seen as a model for {{link=Stalin, Joseph">Joseph Stalin 's brutal transformation of Russian life.