Peter The Great Influence On Russia
When you think of Peter I or Peter the Great, as he gave himself that name, one thinks of Russia and the many Tsars that ruled this interesting part of the world. To learn of Peter the Great is to explore his life during 1682 . Peter was responsible for bringing Russia out of darkness and into a more civilized country in hopes that Russia, the Motherland, would gain the respect of the rest of the European theatre and become a great power. To do this required many changes and reforms which Peter the Great was responsible for. Although not completely successful in his reforms, Peter the Great had the attitude that he could never fail. Russia, considered by other countries as primitive, was at no point prepared to expand its territory or even be considered a threat by others with all the internal conflicts happening in the diverse land. Peter the Great was the answer to the lack of respect by the Western world, as he was raised differently than any other tsars or family that came before him. This upbringing will show the attitude and demeanor with which Peter the Great was able to meet the needs of the state. Previous to Peter the Great, the state had never
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had any sense of organization. Peter the Great met the needs of the state by introducing military, economic, and educational enlightenment reforms to bring Russia out of darkness to the modernization that he had seen elsewhere in Europe. This was no easy task, as unifying a country with so many different traditions had never been successful in its long history of existence. To know of the first of the Pertrine reforms is to know Peter’s experience with the military.
Even at an early age, Peter took a fascination to his father’s military even though it was a meager force. Peter’s father’s death at an early age led Peter and his mother down a road of poverty, in a sense, as they were forced to leave the palace and head to the town of his mother’s heritage--Preobrazhensky. Peter took with him a love of war games and staging drills that would eventually lead to his knowledge of real war situations in his later years. “The games that had started in nursery were continued in the grounds and woods at Preobrazhensky…” (Klyuchevsky. P. 15). Peter took to a world unlike the world in which he was being raised in. With a tutor and no formal education Peter was able to learn
the
Cade 2 disciplines of the old world and traditions of Russia. Being tutored on his own provided a valuable experience for him as he was able to explore answers on his own. However, this education also made him rely on himself for the final answers. Relying on his own would prove to be part of his character throughout his life. The military reform was necessary in order to unite his country. Peter started his list of reforms with the defense of Russia, which understandably started with the military. Peter was able to do this by establishing a regular Army and Navy. Navy was Peter’s expertise as he was fascinated with ship building and how a Navy would benefit his military. Up to this point, Russia never had a true regular military. It was all voluntary and based on the geographical regions in which war was being waged around the country. Peter fought alongside of these men, and these men had great respect for him as he went to war. “Peter 's servants rendered him remarkable assistance on the field of battle” (Oliva, p. 133). Lessons were learned, however, in many battles and wars as Peter was unsuccessful early on. As Peter admitted later, Russia had “enter[ed] the war blindly, without any realization either of her own unpreparedness or of the strength of her enemy” (Klyuchevsky, p. 64). With his journeys across Europe early in his life, Peter experienced many things as he was able to come down to the level of carpenters, shipbuilders, and whatever else he wanted to learn. He did this in order to learn a trade, especially ship building. By doing this he was able to experience modernization and see how different countries operated compared to his. Many of the countries visited and worked in did not think anything of it as they viewed Peter and the Russians as un-educated and uncivilized people. This is where Peter was able to meet the needs of the state militarily. He then returned from his visits and began to put organization into the military so that in the next wars his country would be prepared to defend itself. This organization included allowing serfs to enter into the military without permission from their owners. All classes were in the Army, and most were an un-experienced and a raw force. The Northern War made this change happen and necessary for the State as a whole. Education began in the ranks of
Cade 3 the nobility and the soldiers as Peter established military schools for all in the Army. All these schools and the maintenance of the military was overseen by a Commissariat or another office established by Peter. Of course, like all things, even though these offices were established and may have been overseen by others, all things went through Peter. The concentration was now set on building up the military, including such things as forts, peace-time forces, and the transformation of voluntary forces to permanent regiments. The military reform, no doubt, affected the organization of society as a whole and had a lasting impression on the future of Russia even long after Peter was gone. “ Both measures changed the order of, and relationship between, the social classes, and made people work harder and produce more, thereby increasing the state’s revenue” (Klyuchevsky, p. 75). This reformation of the military naturally led to the next of the reforms established by Peter the great. With all the focus on Military reform, and the maintenance thereof, it naturally led to the question of how to pay for such a task. St. Petersburg was becoming such a monumental place and thus the navy with the Baltic fleet, but how did Peter pay for such an undertaking? With all of the decrees of Peter the Great, the state was becoming more and more dependent on the peasantry of the country. Peter tripled the revenues of the state treasury through a variety of taxes. He levied a capitation, or poll tax, on all males except clergy and nobles and imposed a myriad of indirect taxes on alcohol, salt, and even beards. To provide uniforms and weapons for the military, Peter developed metallurgical and textile industries using serf labor. With the code of Ulozhenie, society was divided into three main categories, and the obligations expected from each class were outlined specifically. The first category was men of service. These men were serfs bound temporarily bound by a contract and those who were permanent bondsmen. The second was a group of free men that consisted of free bondsmen, townsmen, and peasants who had abandoned their occupations and stopped paying state tax (Klyuchevsky, p. 114-115). Out of these groups now specified, men had to be working to pay taxes, so
Cade 4
Peter established a census. This was to make an account of all resources and taxpayers in the land. To ensure this was accurate, he decreed anyone who was found not being honest would have to turn over their possessions to whoever informed against him. With the increased taxes, Peter saw an increase in revenue just long enough to see it flee again to strengthen his military. Peasants began to work harder, and more was required of them. Buildings and barracks being built were done hurriedly and not done with quality in mind. As part of this purge on society, Peter also took control of the church insomuch that now it became a government office called the Holy Synod led by a lay government official. With this economic reform, Peter set the foundation for a more unified state and also laid the foundation for a more organized Russia. Militarily and economically, Russia and the Muscovy state were undergoing a huge reformation. Now controlled mainly by government with military leaders in charge, the next reform fell into place as these two reforms had a lasting effect domestically, too.
Peter the Great wanted to bring Russia out of darkness into light and respect with Western Europe. “In pre-Perrine Russia there was no trade, no industry, no police, no civil security, no diversity of wants and demands, no military organization, for all were poor and insignificant, since it was not law but custom” (Belinsky, p.140). Peter tried doing this with modern technology, institutions, and ideas. He required Western-style education for all male nobles, introduced so-called cipher schools to teach the alphabet and basic arithmetic, established a printing house, and funded the Academy of Sciences. He also demanded that aristocrats, along with his country as a whole, acquire the dress, tastes, and social customs of the West. “Peter encroached upon the people, invaded their life and customs, and forcibly changed their manners and traditions and even their dress” (Aksakov, p.148). Peter introduced a series of measures for industry. (1) The employment of foreign master craftsman and manufacture. This allowed for other influences to enter Russia, establish factories, and use the Russian resources Russia. (2) The sending abroad of Russians in order to learn crafts. This was how Peter had learned so much as
Cade 5 he had ventured in earlier years to do the same. This would bring back crafts and skills that would benefit Russian industry as a whole. With Western ideas, Russia could compete in the Western theatre. (3) Legislative inducements. (4) Industrial companies, loans, subsidies, and exemptions. This was to teach the upper class not to look down on industry as it would be harmful to the overall morale of the country (Klyuchevsky, p. 144). These reforms resulted in a continuing cultural clash between the nobility and the mass of the Russian people. The best illustration of Peter 's drive for modernization, his break from traditions, and his coercive methods was his construction in 1703 of a new, architecturally Western capital, St. Petersburg. It was situated on land newly conquered from Sweden on the Gulf of Finland. The individualistic spirit was an important element in the Western ways Peter so admired. Peter saw his state as sustainable and one that could live off its own resources. He “ …believed that Russia could do without foreign goods, but that foreign countries could not have existed for ten years without Russian goods, and for this reason it is better for us to be their masters and for them to be our slaves” (Klyuchevsky, p. 144). Thus the needs for education and modernization were met.
In conclusion, Peter the Great’s reign could be summed up in a few words. “The governments most important and terrible weapon was Peter’s pen” (Klyuchevsky, p. 72). Everything in the government went through Peter. However, the reforms Peter brought to the Russian state were effective. He set into place the military’s influence in the governmental dealing with the people. Some may call this is a dictatorship, and, in most cases, this would be true. This is exactly what the state needed in the time of Peter. “Unorganized” and “uncivilized” sum up Russia in the years prior to the Northern War. Peter, by journeying to more civilized countries, brought to Russia a new hope and respect. Although his methods may not have always been the best, they were efficient in unifying a diverse country where most lived outside the political arena. Peter never saw most of his reforms come to light, but he was able to lay the foundation for Catherine to build upon. A bureaucracy was in place,
Cade 6 and there was a pattern to follow. Peter was taught in the traditions of the old, but grew out of those traditions as he had the opportunity to travel and see the world outside of Russia. So, in short, Peter the Great met the needs of the state by introducing military, economic, and educational enlightenment reforms to bring Russia out of darkness to the modernization that he had seen elsewhere in Europe. Perhaps these reforms were unpopular at times, but for the whole it was good. The lack of consideration for the lower class had to take place in order to structure Russia into the empire it was under Peter the Great.
Works Cited
Aksakov, Konstantin S. "Immense Spiritual Evil." Oliva, Jay L. Peter The Great; Great lives Observed. Englwood, Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1970. 149.
Belinsky, Vassarion. "The Miricle of Peter the Great." Oliva, Jay L. Peter the Great; Great lives observed. Englwood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1970. 140.
Karamzin, Nicholas M. "Tears and Corpses." Oliva, Jay L. Peter The Great; Great lives observed. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1970. 133.
Klyuchevsky, Vasili. Peter The Great. Boston: St. Martin 's Press, 1958.
Wind of Change
Tony Cade
History of Russia 382
Dr. Karen Leibert
I attest that this is my original work and that I have complied with the Idaho State University policy on academic honesty.
_______________________________________ _______________________
had any sense of organization. Peter the Great met the needs of the state by introducing military, economic, and educational enlightenment reforms to bring Russia out of darkness to the modernization that he had seen elsewhere in Europe. This was no easy task, as unifying a country with so many different traditions had never been successful in its long history of existence. To know of the first of the Pertrine reforms is to know Peter’s experience with the military.
Even at an early age, Peter took a fascination to his father’s military even though it was a meager force. Peter’s father’s death at an early age led Peter and his mother down a road of poverty, in a sense, as they were forced to leave the palace and head to the town of his mother’s heritage--Preobrazhensky. Peter took with him a love of war games and staging drills that would eventually lead to his knowledge of real war situations in his later years. “The games that had started in nursery were continued in the grounds and woods at Preobrazhensky…” (Klyuchevsky. P. 15). Peter took to a world unlike the world in which he was being raised in. With a tutor and no formal education Peter was able to learn
the
Cade 2 disciplines of the old world and traditions of Russia. Being tutored on his own provided a valuable experience for him as he was able to explore answers on his own. However, this education also made him rely on himself for the final answers. Relying on his own would prove to be part of his character throughout his life. The military reform was necessary in order to unite his country. Peter started his list of reforms with the defense of Russia, which understandably started with the military. Peter was able to do this by establishing a regular Army and Navy. Navy was Peter’s expertise as he was fascinated with ship building and how a Navy would benefit his military. Up to this point, Russia never had a true regular military. It was all voluntary and based on the geographical regions in which war was being waged around the country. Peter fought alongside of these men, and these men had great respect for him as he went to war. “Peter 's servants rendered him remarkable assistance on the field of battle” (Oliva, p. 133). Lessons were learned, however, in many battles and wars as Peter was unsuccessful early on. As Peter admitted later, Russia had “enter[ed] the war blindly, without any realization either of her own unpreparedness or of the strength of her enemy” (Klyuchevsky, p. 64). With his journeys across Europe early in his life, Peter experienced many things as he was able to come down to the level of carpenters, shipbuilders, and whatever else he wanted to learn. He did this in order to learn a trade, especially ship building. By doing this he was able to experience modernization and see how different countries operated compared to his. Many of the countries visited and worked in did not think anything of it as they viewed Peter and the Russians as un-educated and uncivilized people. This is where Peter was able to meet the needs of the state militarily. He then returned from his visits and began to put organization into the military so that in the next wars his country would be prepared to defend itself. This organization included allowing serfs to enter into the military without permission from their owners. All classes were in the Army, and most were an un-experienced and a raw force. The Northern War made this change happen and necessary for the State as a whole. Education began in the ranks of
Cade 3 the nobility and the soldiers as Peter established military schools for all in the Army. All these schools and the maintenance of the military was overseen by a Commissariat or another office established by Peter. Of course, like all things, even though these offices were established and may have been overseen by others, all things went through Peter. The concentration was now set on building up the military, including such things as forts, peace-time forces, and the transformation of voluntary forces to permanent regiments. The military reform, no doubt, affected the organization of society as a whole and had a lasting impression on the future of Russia even long after Peter was gone. “ Both measures changed the order of, and relationship between, the social classes, and made people work harder and produce more, thereby increasing the state’s revenue” (Klyuchevsky, p. 75). This reformation of the military naturally led to the next of the reforms established by Peter the great. With all the focus on Military reform, and the maintenance thereof, it naturally led to the question of how to pay for such a task. St. Petersburg was becoming such a monumental place and thus the navy with the Baltic fleet, but how did Peter pay for such an undertaking? With all of the decrees of Peter the Great, the state was becoming more and more dependent on the peasantry of the country. Peter tripled the revenues of the state treasury through a variety of taxes. He levied a capitation, or poll tax, on all males except clergy and nobles and imposed a myriad of indirect taxes on alcohol, salt, and even beards. To provide uniforms and weapons for the military, Peter developed metallurgical and textile industries using serf labor. With the code of Ulozhenie, society was divided into three main categories, and the obligations expected from each class were outlined specifically. The first category was men of service. These men were serfs bound temporarily bound by a contract and those who were permanent bondsmen. The second was a group of free men that consisted of free bondsmen, townsmen, and peasants who had abandoned their occupations and stopped paying state tax (Klyuchevsky, p. 114-115). Out of these groups now specified, men had to be working to pay taxes, so
Cade 4
Peter established a census. This was to make an account of all resources and taxpayers in the land. To ensure this was accurate, he decreed anyone who was found not being honest would have to turn over their possessions to whoever informed against him. With the increased taxes, Peter saw an increase in revenue just long enough to see it flee again to strengthen his military. Peasants began to work harder, and more was required of them. Buildings and barracks being built were done hurriedly and not done with quality in mind. As part of this purge on society, Peter also took control of the church insomuch that now it became a government office called the Holy Synod led by a lay government official. With this economic reform, Peter set the foundation for a more unified state and also laid the foundation for a more organized Russia. Militarily and economically, Russia and the Muscovy state were undergoing a huge reformation. Now controlled mainly by government with military leaders in charge, the next reform fell into place as these two reforms had a lasting effect domestically, too.
Peter the Great wanted to bring Russia out of darkness into light and respect with Western Europe. “In pre-Perrine Russia there was no trade, no industry, no police, no civil security, no diversity of wants and demands, no military organization, for all were poor and insignificant, since it was not law but custom” (Belinsky, p.140). Peter tried doing this with modern technology, institutions, and ideas. He required Western-style education for all male nobles, introduced so-called cipher schools to teach the alphabet and basic arithmetic, established a printing house, and funded the Academy of Sciences. He also demanded that aristocrats, along with his country as a whole, acquire the dress, tastes, and social customs of the West. “Peter encroached upon the people, invaded their life and customs, and forcibly changed their manners and traditions and even their dress” (Aksakov, p.148). Peter introduced a series of measures for industry. (1) The employment of foreign master craftsman and manufacture. This allowed for other influences to enter Russia, establish factories, and use the Russian resources Russia. (2) The sending abroad of Russians in order to learn crafts. This was how Peter had learned so much as
Cade 5 he had ventured in earlier years to do the same. This would bring back crafts and skills that would benefit Russian industry as a whole. With Western ideas, Russia could compete in the Western theatre. (3) Legislative inducements. (4) Industrial companies, loans, subsidies, and exemptions. This was to teach the upper class not to look down on industry as it would be harmful to the overall morale of the country (Klyuchevsky, p. 144). These reforms resulted in a continuing cultural clash between the nobility and the mass of the Russian people. The best illustration of Peter 's drive for modernization, his break from traditions, and his coercive methods was his construction in 1703 of a new, architecturally Western capital, St. Petersburg. It was situated on land newly conquered from Sweden on the Gulf of Finland. The individualistic spirit was an important element in the Western ways Peter so admired. Peter saw his state as sustainable and one that could live off its own resources. He “ …believed that Russia could do without foreign goods, but that foreign countries could not have existed for ten years without Russian goods, and for this reason it is better for us to be their masters and for them to be our slaves” (Klyuchevsky, p. 144). Thus the needs for education and modernization were met.
In conclusion, Peter the Great’s reign could be summed up in a few words. “The governments most important and terrible weapon was Peter’s pen” (Klyuchevsky, p. 72). Everything in the government went through Peter. However, the reforms Peter brought to the Russian state were effective. He set into place the military’s influence in the governmental dealing with the people. Some may call this is a dictatorship, and, in most cases, this would be true. This is exactly what the state needed in the time of Peter. “Unorganized” and “uncivilized” sum up Russia in the years prior to the Northern War. Peter, by journeying to more civilized countries, brought to Russia a new hope and respect. Although his methods may not have always been the best, they were efficient in unifying a diverse country where most lived outside the political arena. Peter never saw most of his reforms come to light, but he was able to lay the foundation for Catherine to build upon. A bureaucracy was in place,
Cade 6 and there was a pattern to follow. Peter was taught in the traditions of the old, but grew out of those traditions as he had the opportunity to travel and see the world outside of Russia. So, in short, Peter the Great met the needs of the state by introducing military, economic, and educational enlightenment reforms to bring Russia out of darkness to the modernization that he had seen elsewhere in Europe. Perhaps these reforms were unpopular at times, but for the whole it was good. The lack of consideration for the lower class had to take place in order to structure Russia into the empire it was under Peter the Great.
Works Cited
Aksakov, Konstantin S. "Immense Spiritual Evil." Oliva, Jay L. Peter The Great; Great lives Observed. Englwood, Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1970. 149.
Belinsky, Vassarion. "The Miricle of Peter the Great." Oliva, Jay L. Peter the Great; Great lives observed. Englwood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1970. 140.
Karamzin, Nicholas M. "Tears and Corpses." Oliva, Jay L. Peter The Great; Great lives observed. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1970. 133.
Klyuchevsky, Vasili. Peter The Great. Boston: St. Martin 's Press, 1958.
Wind of Change
Tony Cade
History of Russia 382
Dr. Karen Leibert
I attest that this is my original work and that I have complied with the Idaho State University policy on academic honesty.
_______________________________________ _______________________