Until 1914, Petrograd was generally known as St. Petersburg. When the Great European War broke out, its name was changed. Both words mean Peter's City. Peter the Great it was who made the capital of the Empire at Petrograd instead of Moscow. He saw that Russia must have a great ocean port if it was to become a world power. He therefore went to western Europe and learned ship building and engineering. When he returned in 1703, he drained the marshes at the mouth of the Neva River, and began the building of his new city on the Gulf of Finland. Ship building was encouraged. Soon Russia had a fleet of merchant vessels on the Baltic. Petrograd is one of the wonderful cities of Europe. It is almost as large as Berlin; that is, its population is about 2,000,000. Its public buildings are

magnificent. As the capital of the Russian Empire it contains the palaces of the Czar. It is the center of religion, art, politics, and education. Among the fine buildings are the Winter Palace, the Admiralty buildings, the Hermitage Art Gallery, and the Senate buildings. It is the last that are shown in the view. The Russian Empire is of vast extent. One-fifteenth of the land of the Earth is within its boundaries. And from Petrograd are ruled 175,000,000 people, an eleventh of all the people of the world. Locate Petrograd. Which direction is it from Berlin? From London? What lands in Asia does Russia hold? What port on the Pacific does Russia control? What port is on the Black Sea? The Arctic Ocean? What country in Asia belongs to Russia?