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Peter The Great Modernizes Russia

Peter the Great modernized Russia through forceful westernization policies in the early 1700s. He brought Russian institutions like the Orthodox Church and nobility under state control, demanded nobles adopt Western styles and attend mixed gender parties, and passed laws strengthening serfdom to ensure nobles supported his reforms. Peter also imported Western technology, improved education, and developed industries and infrastructure through authoritarian means like torturing and executing rebels. His reforms helped make Russia a more powerful empire but were met with resistance from traditional elites.

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115 views

Peter The Great Modernizes Russia

Peter the Great modernized Russia through forceful westernization policies in the early 1700s. He brought Russian institutions like the Orthodox Church and nobility under state control, demanded nobles adopt Western styles and attend mixed gender parties, and passed laws strengthening serfdom to ensure nobles supported his reforms. Peter also imported Western technology, improved education, and developed industries and infrastructure through authoritarian means like torturing and executing rebels. His reforms helped make Russia a more powerful empire but were met with resistance from traditional elites.

Uploaded by

fhnlalax54
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
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Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Peter the Great Modernizes Russia

Facts about Peter the Great:


Peter the Great was born on June 9th, 1672 in Moscow, Russia. Peter took the throne in 1682, when he was only 10 years old. Although he took the throne at the age of 10 he did not control the governemnt of Russia until 1689. The young tsar was not well educated, but was very curious. His curiosity brought him to spend many hours in the Moscow neighborhood where many Dutch, Scottish English and a few other foreign artisans and soldiers lived. This neighbor hood was known as the German Quarter. In the German Quarter he heard and learned about the new technology that was helping Western European monarchs forge powerful empires.

Peters Journey to the West:


In 1697, Peter left to learn about the Western culture and ways for himself. He learned the ways of the west by walking the streets of various European cities, spending time noting the manners and homes of the people that live there. He also visited art galleries and factories, and learned some common skills from doctors and dentists there. In England Peter was very impressed by British Parliament and spoke highly of them when he said, It is good to hear subjects speaking truthfully and openly to their king.

On his return from Europe Peter brought a group of various professionals back including teachers and soldiers. He then embarked on a policy of Westernization or the adoption of Western ideas, technology, and culture in Russia but this proved to be difficult.

Peter became the most autocratic of Europes absolute monarchs in order to impose his will and persuade his subjects.

Controlling the Church and the Nobles:


As ruler Peter the Great pursued several goals including strengthening the military expanding Russias borders, and centralizing royal power. To achieve his aspirations , he brought all Russian institutions under his control, including the Russian Orthodox church . In addition to this, he forced the important landowning nobles or boyars to serve the state in civilian or military positions. Some of Peters changes had symbolic meanings such as demanding that boyars shave their beards and adopt Westernstyle robes. To end the practice of secluding upper-class women in separate quarters, he held grand parties at which women and men were expected to dance together. This idea, however, was opposed by Russian nobles because they did not believe in radical mixing of the sexes in public. Peter passed laws guaranteeing that nobles would retain control over their lands to ensure that these nobles would serve the state because their own interests would be protected. This law passed also guaranteed that nobles would retain control over the serfs on this land and in turn strengthen serfdom.

Under his role serfdom continued to spread in Russia long after it had died out in Western Europe. Further, he forced some serfs to become soldiers or to work as laborers on roads, canals, and other government projects.

Modernizing With Force


Peter pushed through social and economic reform using

autocratic methods. He did numerous things to help Russia including importing Western techology, improving education, simplifying the Russian alphabet, and setting up academies for the study of mathematics, science, and engineering. To pay for his sweeping reforms, Peter had to adopt mercantilist policies, such as encouraging exports. He also improved waterways and canals, developed mining and textile manufacturing and backed new trading companies to help modernize Russia. Peter had no mercy for any who resisted the new order. For example, when elite palace guards revolted, he had more than 1,000 of the rebels tortured and executed. To exemplify his great power he left their rotting corpes outside the palace walls for months.

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