Essay on Compare & Contrast - Russia, Ottoman Empire 1450-1750

     Peter the Great had many strengths, but his best was he modernized Russia. By seeing Europe, he changed many things. He changed the calendar so the New Year would be January 1. He increased agriculture by growing new crops and increased the number of factories in Russia. He also started the first Russian newspaper and enlarged their army to 200,000 men. He also got a warm water port for his “window on the sea.”

Peter the Great was born to Tsar Alexis and grew up differently than many people of his time. “Peter proved a healthy child, lively and inquisitive. It is probably significant to his development that his mother’s former guardian, Artamon Sergeyevich Matveyev, had raised her in an atmosphere open to progressive influences from the West” (Britannica Academica). The fact that he grew up with a significant figure in his life who favored the west shaped his views in a major. Later in his reign, he focused on western civilization and how they thrived. Peter tried to implicate the same influences in Russia to further try and modernize and advance the culture, society, and government. Peter was a very lively and energetic child. “When Alexis died in 1676 Peter was only four years old. His elder half-brother, a sickly youth, then succeeded to the throne as Fyodor III” (Britannica

Peter’s reforms Westernized Russia quite significantly. There are many examples of these reforms and how they helped to Westernize Russia. For example, he caused the people of Russia to change their fashion, not only of how they dressed but of how their bodies looked. For example, he made the Russians have shorter or no beards by having a beard tax. Document 2 supports this when it says that “…The Russians had always worn long beards, which they cherished and preserved with much care, allowing them to hang down on their bosoms, without even cutting the moustache…The tsar, in order to reform that custom, ordered that gentlemen, merchants, and other subjects, except priests and peasants, should each pay a tax of 100 ruples each year if they

Peter the Great made it his ambition to pursue military growth in Russia. What started out as a defenseless country, ended as an army of 210,000 men. “At his (assumption of the throne) Russia had no armed forces except for the inefficient and untrustworthy Streltsy (hereditary military units).”- Document F. Peter the Great had many accomplishments. His greatest was the army, he formed in Russia. With all the power concentrated in his hands, Peter the Great was able to get things done efficiently and effectively. It took less time because, under the rule of absolutism, no one could question Peter’s work or capabilities. He built a professional army of 210,0000 men, created a navy and fleet of forty-eight ships and smaller vessels. Rather than being an insignificant vulnerable country, Russia was made into a dominant country. The amount of power that Russia had acquired was feared by other countries. Absolutism prevented many rebellions because of a new found fear. Many countries and people were afraid of Russia’s potential to become a dominate country. However, this was beneficial for absolutist leaders because no one would question or rebel against their actions. Many historians argue that Peter the Great’s method of absolutism was an excuse for tyranny. However, his achievements for the country of Russia outweigh the costs of inequality and unshared wealth. If Peter the

Peter the Great was born to Tsar Alexis and grew up differently than many people of his time. “Peter proved a healthy child, lively and inquisitive. It is probably significant to his development that his mother’s former guardian, Artamon Sergeyevich Matveyev, had raised her in an atmosphere open to progressive influences from the West” (Britannica Academica). The fact that he grew up with a significant figure in his life who favored the west,shaped his views in a major way. Later in his reign, he focused on western civilizations and how they thrived. Peter tried to implicate the same influences in Russia to further try and modernize and advance the culture, society, and government. Peter was a very lively and energetic child. “When Alexis died in 1676 Peter was only four years old. His elder half-brother, a sickly youth, then succeeded to the throne as Fyodor

Peter westernized Russia and embarked on the ideas , technology and culture from the west. He forced the landowning nobles to shave their traditional beards and wear western style clothes. Peter also passed laws ensuring that nobles retained control over their lands and the serfs that were tied to it. Peter expanded Russian territory on the Baltic Sea ( document 4) . Peter created a strong army out of nothing that was feared by all. When he died he left behind a fleet of 48 ships and a army with over 200,000 men. Even though Peter helped his country expand its territory his lack of initiative and enterprise remained one of Russia’s greatest social weaknesses (document

Russian princes, having gained back their territory from the Mongols, consolidated their power and restored the Russian state in 1462 under Ivan the Great. The underlying cultural aspects that existed in Russia from 1480-1800 like the Eastern Orthodox Church and the westernization of the boyars certainly helped Russia advance as a world power. The political constants in Russia, such as the serf and boyar control as well as expansion, also helped Russia to approach countries in the West in terms of influence.

in which men would have to pay a tax in order to keep their beards.

If one would review the past of Europe during the16th and 17th centuries, they would find that it was an age of Prosperity due to the absolute monarchs that ruled during that time. These centuries were filled with great leaders such as Peter the Great and Louis XIV, that demonstrated all the characteristics of an absolute monarch and benefited the greater good in the lands they ruled. Peter the Great was such a great example of this that he changed Russia in a land of insignificance to one of great power. With this he also created the Russian newspaper, great trade, the Table of Ranks, and St. Petersburg which was Russia's warm water port. People such as Peter that were willing to defy the roles of an absolute monarch and bring new concepts

Peter created a world-class navy from scratch. He began a long war with Sweden, who at that point had control over the Baltic region. Even though they suffered many losses during the war, Peter the Great rebuilt his army like the European armies and did not give up. Eventually, the Russian army won against Sweden and took control of territory along the Baltic Sea. On this territory, Peter built up St. Petersburg, which became an indication of his efforts to modernize Russia. He invited many artisans and architects to design palaces with Western design to bring more of the Western culture in. Peter expanded the Russian empire to the east because he had Russian traders cross the plains of Siberia. Later on, he signed a treaty with China that accepted Russia’s claims to the lands north of China. This treaty also defined the border between them.

European powers were constantly expanding while Russia was still stuck in backwardness, with no reforms, revolution, and their economy and military were not on par with the western countries. Russia was basically just an agricultural society, with almost no trading due to their only real seaport being frozen for more than half the year. This makes them vulnerable at a time when the European and Russia were constantly at war to take away each other’s territory. In the late 17th century, Peter the Great came to the throne and knew that Russia had to modernize so that Russia will be able to advance and not deemed as a weak country. During his reign, he embarked on a journey to numerous European countries to learn some skills and import ideas from the western world into Russian society. Before Peter the great reign, Russian were

Nicholas Riasanovsky’s “The Image of Peter the Great,” sets forth a thesis that, since Peter’s reign, Russians have identified and utilized two factors concerning Peter’s reign to inform their opinions of him. The first factor is their view of Peter’s reforms. Russians have seen Peter as both a modernizing hero and a westernizing traitor to Russian heritage. The second is how Peter’s power is understood, whether he was a great statesman, or an overzealous tyrant. Riasanovsky claims these different factors have been bolstered or criticized of Peter’s leadership have fallen in and out of favor depending on the political climate of the time. Riasanovsky’s outline of Russian views towards Peter contains some oversimplifications. It also fails

-he really worked on getting russia into europe alike peter the great, they had some of the same territorial ambitions

From the time she took office as the new leader of Russia, Catherine the Great had many challenges she had to face. While her colleagues before her had helped to set her up with a stronger and more modernized country, she still had enemies with which she must tend to in order to secure the austerity of her country. Her predecessors of ruler of Russia had for the most part dealt with the problem of the Sweedes at Russia’s northern border, there was still much head way to be done with the Poles and the Turks on Russia’s western and southern boarders.

Peter the Great was a leader that was ahead of his people in the terms of progression. He wanted to improve Russia, but improvement requires change. Change was something that was extremely frowned upon by the people of Russia because of the Church, which is one of the reasons I believe Russia has not been modernized. They were completely stunned when Peter suggested beards should be shaved off, let alone when he would suggest something even far more radical. The people held too closely to tradition for modernization to ever happen. Also, I believe modernization is impeded because Russia's economy just could not handle it. Sure, Peter the Great did all that he did without borrowing money, but he was also royalty; he did not need financial assistance.