Russia's naval power: From Peter the Great to Putin the Great?

Since 1980, Russia celebrates its Navy Day on the last Sunday of July. Navy Day in Russia was established in 1939. This year, the celebrations organized on the 30th of July covered the whole Russian coast line from Vladivostok in the far east to St. Petersburg in the west, from Severomorsk in the north to Sevastapol in Crimea. Tartus, Russia's base in Syria, was also included in the wide spectrum of celebrations manifesting Russia's naval power.

Russia's emphasis on enhancing its naval power has been drawing the attention of political analysts for the last couple of years. Historians and politico-military observers argue that the 17th century Russian expansionist policy under Peter the Great is now being revisited by Vladimir Putin. Russia's increasing presence in the Arctic, its annexation of Crimea and its involvement in the Syrian quagmire which reiterated the importance of Russia's naval base in Tartus happen to strengthen those arguments.

Russia is among the countries that has the longest coastline on Earth. Ironically, until the end of the 17th century, it was not a country which had maritime access to the Mediterranean. In 1696, Peter the Great's seizure of the port city of Azov in the northern part of Black Sea is considered to be a major military victory to open the sea passage for Russia to the Mediterranean. But Azov was only the beginning of Peter's greater exploits in favor of making Russia a great naval power. His campaign in the Baltic Sea, after causing Sweden to lose its influence there, resulted with the establishment of St. Petersburg as the new capital of the country opening to the West. 

Peter the Great was also willing to expand his empire's naval presence to the Arctic. He built a modern shipyard in the Arctic city of...