sentences:  Peace with China strengthened the initial breakthrough to the Pacific that had been made in the middle of the century.Peter the Great (1672–1725), who became ruler in his own right in 1696, was destined to bring the Tsardom of Russia, which had little contact with Europe and was mostly seen as a regional power, into the mainstream of European culture and politics.After suppressing numerous rebellions with considerable bloodshed, Peter embarked on a tour of Western Europe incognito.