In a movement largely started by Peter the Great in the early 18th century, Russia began a conscious movement towards Europeanizing its big cities, St. Petersburg, the capital till 1917, and Moscow. Back from his romps in Western Europe, Peter brought back European fashion trends (beardless faces became trendy), technology (introduction of the printing press, expanding literacy to the provinces), the census, foods (including potatoes that poisoned the poor, along with an etiquette manual), and even changed the concept of time, swapping the traditional Russian calendar with the Roman, declaring 7208 as 1700 AD. Peter vigorously enforced these cultural changes, often with violence. Religious and philosophical views from the Enlightenment also infiltrated the intelligentsia of Russia’s big cities, creating a spiritual divide in the country geographically. Along with Peter’s introduction of modernity from Europe came the search for a Russian identity, one which conveniently could be cultivated through the arts. Developments in literature (Tolstoy, Pushkin, Dostoevsky) and music ("the Big Five", Tchaikovsky) defined a new Russianness, fusing the more traditional folk spirit with intellectual and romantic forms from European cultural capitals like France and Italy. All of this development did eventually beg the question: what could become of the Russian theatre?