Peter the Great Peter the Great or Peter I, czar of Russia, reigned from (1672-1725). In many ways he bettered the country of Russia, but in other ways he hurt Russia. The ways in which bettered the country outweighs the bad effects put upon Russians during his reign. Most of the ways that he improved the country stemmed from him forcing Western European culture on his people. One of the ways in which he bettered Russia was that he expanded their land. Land expansion meant that Russia became bigger that the rest of Europe and Russia now had sea and fresh water ports important for trade. He also improved education,