A third reason could be a new government replacing or overthrowing the old one. After the Communist Party took overthrew the Russian Empire's emperor, the Tsar, and changed the country's name to the Soviet Union, the city of Saint Petersburg also changed to Leningrad. This was because the Communist Party wanted to honor its leader, Vladimir Lenin, and symbolize the Soviet Union's turning away from Russia's system of absolute monarchy, the Tsardom, that ruled before they did, since Saint Petersburg was named after Peter the Great, who was the Tsar that founded the city. When the city of New Amsterdam, founded by Dutch colonists in North America, was lost to the British Empire, it was renamed New York City after the Duke of York.