Peter the great attempted to modernize Russia by

He improved Russian agriculture by introducing the potato, strengthened the Russian economy by importing skilled workers, and liberated Russian women by allowing them to appear in public without veils.

(d) rivers.

explanation:

civilizations developed around rivers because their waters provided places to hunt and fish. also, as the rivers flooded, the lands around them became fertile. this allowed them to support farming. this is especially true of the nile river, which flooded the same time each year.