Why Did Peter The Great Want To Westernize Russia

Peter The Great should be granted the title of "Most Absolute Monarch" because he created a strong navy, recognized his army according to Western standards, secularized schools, administrative and territorial divisions of the country. Peter focused on the development of science and recruited several experts to educate his people about technological advancements. He concentrated on developing commerce and industry and created a gentrified bourgeoisie population. Mirroring Western culture, he modernized the Russian alphabet, introduced the Julian calendar, and established the first Russian newspaper. Peter was a far-sighted and skillful diplomat who abolished Russia's archaic form of government and appointed a viable

     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.”

Prior to Peter taking reign, the Russian society was in a rough condition. The economy was failing and the country's standing army was extremely weak. Russia was also in the midst of a war against the Ottoman Turkish Empire, with a goal to secure a Russian port on the northern coast of the Black Sea. Peter the Great ruled over Russia from 1682-1752.He tried to form warm water ports so they had the ability to trade in the in the winter. He also tried to improve Russia and modernize the culture. As an effect of these things, Peter the Great had an overall positive impact on Russia during his rule.

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

Document 2 describes how he demanded all nobles to learn mathematics, or else they would not be allowed to marry. Perhaps influenced by his trips to Europe, Peter placed high emphasis on learning and making sure the people of his country were educated. The document illustrates that he made specific laws to educate the nobility, therefore educating and improving the country as a whole. Since it is from a decree by Peter I himself toward the people, this document is a reliable source of information for how he governed the country during his rule and can be used to demonstrate how he educated Russia. Creating the Table of Ranks, a system of government that chose officials based on merit instead of social status, would also help him ensure that Russia improved intellectually. Document 3 is another decree from Peter that starts off by explaining how he wants what is best for the people of Russia and wants them to be educated and skilled. In order to do that, he continues, foreign artisans are invited to visit Russia to spread their knowledge and craft. Peter I is a major proponent of learning things from other countries to apply to his own country, and that is made obvious by how he encourages all foreigners to come to Russia. He wants to help his country become as advanced as other countries and does that by inviting skilled foreigners to come work for him. The purpose of this piece was the influence outsiders to move to Russia, so it may be written more persuasive. Peter describes how he is helping the citizens and doing what is best to improve the country, but since he needs to appease the people, it might not be completely accurate to his real motives. Since the piece was written by one person, it’s hard to know if this decree was influential or not, but it still shows the steps that Peter the Great took to improve

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

Peter recognized that his country was falling behind the European countries in knowledge, technology, trade, and governing ability. Using his absolute power as a czar, he brought in foreign advisers to help him modernize, westernize and educate his people. Peter had a great respect for Europe, and his reforms had a lasting influence in Russia, though there was of course opposition from the more conservative nobles.

Before the reign of Peter the Great, the ruler of Russia had no control over the religion of its people, but after Peter the Great created the Holy Synod, the Russian tsar could control the Russian Orthodox Church. The Holy Synod served as a secular, non-religious body which controls the rules and regulations of the Russian Orthodox Church. Moreover, Peter’s creation of the the Holy Synod allowed the Russian ruler to create a religiously uniformed society and to completely control religious matters as well as political issues. In addition, Peter the Great expanded Russia’s territory to the Baltic Sea due to the necessity of a warm water port. During Peter’s reign as tsar during the 1720’s, Russia needed a warm water port in order to successfully trade with other European nations. Peter the Great wanted to make Russia a European power, and in order to do that he needed to conquer a warm water port to increase Russian wealth. For this reason, Peter the Great declared war on Sweden in order to control a port in the Baltic Sea and expand Russia east in the Great Northern War. Also, in order to increase his power over the Russian nobility, Peter the Great created the Table of Ranks to control which aristocrats become nobles. The Table of Ranks system involved aristocrats working in military service and civil service to rise up in the “ranks”

Peter the Great of Russia was a strong and absolute ruler. Czar Peter I used a form of absolute rule called autocratic rule. Meaning that he ruled with unlimited authority over his subjects and land. Many people tile Peter the Great as a modernizer of Russia (Mendrala, 41). Peter the Great is responsible for Russia’s westernization, he enforced Western ideas, technology, and culture. By attempting to cultivate the western European way of life Peter made Russia diplomatic, military, political, commercial, scholastic, literary, and industrial (Source #2). During his reign Peter the Great develops a number of policies, and he dramatically reforms his country. Like any ruler, Peter encounters a few problematic incidents, but is able to overcome

He was the first to westernized Russia, he secularized schools and he created a strong navy. One of his main focuses as a leader was education, so he established numerous schools all throughout his land. Based off the western styles, he improved the Russian alphabet and established the first Russian newspaper. By deciding to enhance the education of his people, Peter created a stronger and more intelligent society in Russia. Although he was a good leader, he was known to be very harsh and brutal at times.

In the year 1700 Russia under Peter the Great formed a coalition with Poland, Saxony, and Denmark-Norway to counter the growing power of the Swedish Empire in the Baltic Sea, and won. How was it that these supposedly weak states brought down the most powerful empire of its time? At that point in history Sweden was widely regarded as having the greatest conventional army in Europe. None of the nations in the coalition were considered to be particularly powerful, and yet despite this the coalition destroyed the Swedish Empire, removing it from the struggles of the great powers to this day.

Most of the Russians were illiterate, so Peter tried to educate everyone. He actually standardized the Russian alphabet, so it would be easier to learn. In math, he introduced Arabic numbers. Once students went through school,

Peter the Great’s military reforms massively modernized Russia’s Army and Navy. Creating a new army could arguably be one of the best reform movements that Peter the Great has ever done. His new army centralized more power for him; therefore, helping him control over his people and the nobility. The Russian army was both enlarged and made into a professional army under Peter the great. Before Peter the Great made his army into a professional, standing army, his army was based on villagers going into battle to defend the Motherland. Peter the Great decided to introduce a standing army in 1699. Revenue was

Before Peter the Great came along, the Russian army was not strong, it was led by village elders with no military background. Ever since Peter was a child, he had been interested in ships and the science behind them, so he knew how to make a really good navy. Since Russia lacked the supplies for this navy, Peter looked to foreign experts, and by 1725, Russia had 48 ships and 800 galleys. These foreign experts became officers in Peter’s