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Peter the Great (Click to select text)
Your amazing deeds are your trophies. Entire Russia is your statue, reshaped by your expert skill, as pictured not in vain in your emblem; and the entire world is your poet, and the preacher of your glory. 1 Archbishop, Feofan Prokopovich is describing the past Tzar of Russia, Peter the Great and his influence on Russian society and the world. Peter's influence on the world and especially his country cannot easily be forgotten. He had great determination and goals for a modern and powerful Russia and was very efficient in their completion during his reign. After having seen the greatness and glory of many of the Western European cities, Peter strove to make Russia one of these great powers. When Peter the Great finally seized his power as Tsar of Russia, he wasted no time in revolutionizing and modernizing his country; his reforms include, aristocracy, army, navy, industry, economy, church and education. Peter was in a position to make changes. He had the resources to institute alterations to his country for the betterment of his subjects and for Russia's own reputation in the European community. During his reign, Russia emerged as one of Europe's great powers, which was mainly because of his introduction of many Western European scientific, cultural and political practices. Peter the Great was born on June 9, 1672, the son of Tzar Alexis I Makhailovich. 2 He succeeded the throne at the age of ten, when Tsar Theodore, Peter's half-brother, died. Even at such a young age, Peter had a great understanding of the upheavals occurring in Russia. It was this understanding that ultimately shaped his rule as Tzar of Russia. He was educated by private tutors in the palace, but was later removed by his mother to a suburban village where he was raised in relative freedom. These years, distance from the politics of Moscow, Peter was able to explore the technical skills and military maneuvers with which he was extremely fascinated. 2 Before seizing his rightful place in the state, Peter fought with the Russian troops as an apprentice during the battle for Azov, and it was then that he saw the pressing need for greater military organization. During his travels throughout Russia, his fascination with ships led him to work laboring as a carpenter until he felt he had "learned everything a carpenter should know". 3 It seems obvious that through his many travels throughout Russia and the manner of his upbringing, played a major role in Peter the Great's reign as Czar. The capture of Azov pushed Russia and Peter the Great to the forefront of the great military powers of the time. This distinction was important to Peter in establishing his right as the new and capable monarch of Russia. It was soon after the capture of Azov by the Russian troops that Peter decided to travel throughout Europe and lean from the older, more developed monarchies. His travels included stops in Vienna and England. It was in these countries, and others, that Peter first comprehended their technological advances and wished these on his own country. He had become fascinated with their technology, lifestyle and aristocracy. "No Russian ruler had ever visited a foreign land; and apart from a few diplomats and merchants very few Russians of any kind traveled abroad. Now Peter was seen to be throwing down the barriers which had hitherto separated his country from rest of Europe." 4 The beginnings of Peter's changes had begun, for better or for worse. Peter was forced to return to Russia due to the upheavals of the streltsy, a branch of the Russian army: The background to the renewed unrest among the streltsy was the widespread and deep-rooted dislike in Russia not only of Peter's policies but of the style and atmosphere of his rule. His desire to build a navy, his friendships with foreigners..., his European dress, the journey to the west, in a word his wholesale and brutal rejection of the traditional behavior proper to an orthodox Tsar aroused the deepest misgivings and 3 resentment. During the months before he set out on the great journey to the west, there had been several manifestations of this.5 This revolt by his won army forced Peter into action as an all powerful ruler. He ordered the immediate torture and execution of hundreds of the rebelling streltsy. Their disloyalty to the crown and to his government forced Peter to see the necessity of internal governmental reforms and the requirement of building an army that would be loyal to the monarchy. Peace had not yet come to the Russian people. The Great Northern War with Sweden would last for two decades and rip through Russian economy and daily life. Peter's goals in entering the war was the possibility of gaining access to the Baltic Sea. Not long after the war had begun, had Russian suffered a great defeat at Narva. Their attempt to attack the Swedish city was disastrous. But Peter was determined to be victorious in the war. The Russians had to recover their army and had just that chance. "Peter made the most of this opportunity. By imposing heavy taxation, melting down church bells for cannon and forcibly levying new recruits, he was able to reconstruct his shattered army." 6 The fighting between the two powerful European countries continued for many years until the important Battle of Poltava. Peter the Great, as during the war, played an active role in the battle. Russian emerged victorious and was then labeled a great military power. Russia was victorious and had gained its longed for access to the Baltic. "The widespread uneasiness or hostility which which Russian achievements had aroused took time to disappear... Nevertheless, Russia's status as an important part of the European political system was now a fact that could not be denied". 7 It would be many more years of fighting with Sweden before the war was to come to an end, but to add to the pressures on its army, Russia was forced to enter into war with the 4 Ottoman Empire in 1711. "When, however, it became clear by the spring that a war with Turkey would have to be fought... he began to form far-reaching plans. For a decade or more it had been clear that in such a war Russia might hope for some active support from the Orthodox Christian population of the Balkans." 8 Peter the Great and his army had been defeated by the dwindling Turkish Empire. It was a humiliating defeat and did not present a good picture of the 'great power' who was simultaneously fighting Sweden. It was in the midst of the ongoing wars with two of Europe's strongest powers that Peter saw the need for an advising body to overlook aspects of the countries' political and economic interests. This representative body was the Senate, which was created by Peter in 1711. In 1721, with the Russo-Turkish War having ended years before and the victory of the Great Northern War behind him, Peter now had to find a way in which to pay for the years of battle. Peter then introduced many new taxes that inevitably affected every individual in Russia. In 1718 a census of the population, conducted with the aim of levying a poll, or head, tax, increased the already heavy burden of taxation that the lower classes had to bear, and forced them into still greater dependence on their masters. Hardest hit were the servile workers in the new mines and factories. But all classes of the population had to contribute to state revenue through a proliferation of taxes on, among other things, such curious items as bath-houses, beards and oak coffins. 9 The new, more centralized government took money from the people wherever they could and in the process hurt many of its poorer subjects. Although Peter's intention had been to aid the dwindling Russian economy, but ended up making a large part of the population more dependent. Thus, his effort to aid the Russian economy ended up with very negative repercussions. 5 It was due to and throughout each of these decisive gains, loses, battles and wars that Peter saw the need to alter or reform many different aspects of Russia's aristocracy, army, navy, industry, economy, church and education. Peter's reforms were executed quickly and efficiently, often before his subjects had a chance to rebel against his decisions. Peter was a diligent worker and realized that Russia's present and future would be better than its past. With his strong driving force and need for accomplishment, the country began to move forward at a dizzying pace. It was soon after the revolts of the streltsy that Peter began the first of his reforms, beginning with the Russian aristocracy. While traveling through Western Europe, Peter had been influenced by their styles of clothing and hair. It was Peter's "first systematic efforts to force at least the upper classes in Russia to conform to the manner and appearances of western Europe. The shaving of beards and the adoption of foreign dress, in place of the long coats and long sleeves of traditional boyar costume." 10 Peter's reforms were a system which eliminated the aristocracy and kept the power in the government. Slowly but surely Peter began enforcing orders and laws that would affect every one of his subjects and change the course of Russian history. Peter the Great, during the the Battle of Azov, saw Russia's desperate need for reorganization of their army and the creation of a navy. Peter had been fascinated with shipbuilding and the possibility of a Russian Navy since his travels through Western Europe. In 1703 with the foundation of Russia's new capital, St. Petersburg and a port on the Baltic, Peter now had the resources to foster his dream of creating a navy. Within five months before his second campaign of Azov, Peter planned and created with dizzying pace, Russia's navy, "No 6 shipbuilding facilities of any kind existed, and the Russians, acquainted only with the primitive barges on the Volga and the Don, lacked any experience with ships. But Peter seemed unaware of the magnitude of his task. He had to decide where the ships would be built, establish shipyards, assemble timber and other materials, find competent shipwrights and train crews." 11 Peter's dream had come true. It took many more years to establish more permanent ship building facilities and allow Russia's new navy to prosper. Peter's reorganization of the army began during the Great Northern War with Sweden. The need for new recruits for the constantly injured and depleting army was plainly obvious during the war that lasted 21 years. "It was the demands of the army and navy for men, for equipment, for money and not least for organization and leadership, which inspired many of the most important changes and the most striking innovations of the reign." 12 Peter the Great created a modern and regular army in place of the unreliable streltsy and militia. This new army would need many soldiers and this would require a new system of recruiting. Peter implemented this new course of action and conscripted his soldiers from all classes and areas of Russia. Many of the officers serving in the grand, new army were drawn from the nobility; and their service, as all positions in the army, was for life. At the same time they imposed on the ordinary man obligations much heavier than any he had previously borne and did much to give the new official Russian a tone and ethos different from any know in the past." 13 The new and efficient army created by Peter was very much like many other modern European armies and was much more successful than past unsatisfied Russian armies. It was the creation of the army and navy that led to the absolute need for the creation of industries as well as, having been an aid to Russian economics. The aim of the industries, when 7 they had just begun, was the manufacturing of objects profitable and necessary to continue with war. "Though Peter the Great exacted both obedience and money from his subjects, he also saw to it that the Russian economy was not neglected. State funds were extensively deployed in encouraging mining and metallurgy..., a large textile industry and other consumer industries for the manufacture of glass, paper, paint, leather products and so on." 14 The widespread result of the development of these industries was sufficient: the Russian army and navy were supplied with their material needs, many manufacturing establishments were created throughout the country, there was a great development of jobs, and foreign trade was boosted. Peter's aim inevitably shifted to church reform in 1715. It was his attempts to bring about change in an aspect of Russian life that had always been sacred and holy that caused a stir among all of his subjects. To many, Peter was discrediting Russia's church with new laws and his personal views toward the institution. His laws stating that men must be cleans shaven and that all men must wear proper European attire was an insult to most and especially added to the growing rift between the classes. "Of all the reforms of Peter the Great, the abolition of the Patriarchal and the establishment of the Holy Synod was the most radical in form. It also had the most widespread and immediate repercussions, for it provoked bitter resistance among the people." 15 Peter was most interested in establishing a link between the church and the state. It would from then on be the monarchy who ruled over the Orthodox Church of Russia. Educational reforms were also necessary in a fully modern European country. Peter created schools in which all students, whether noble or aristocrat, all children were admitted. The old school was helpless in meeting all the new requirements of state and society. Russia needed new schools, and these schools, which made their appearance during the period of reform, were not so much as a green fruit on the poor soil of the old Russian 8 education, but rather the seeds from which a comprehensive system of popular education could sprout in the distant future. 16 Peter's education system was extensive; education became compulsory. He supported students going abroad to strengthen their education and the travels were often paid for at the state's expense. Peter the Great made it possible in every way necessary that his subjects be educated, but some were not ready for such a drastic change. "The difficulty with the modern education system in Russia stemmed from the fact that education and culture were first viewed exclusively as instruments of state policy and goals, made compulsory and forced on an unwilling and ill prepared society." 17 Peters' reorganization of Russia's practically unknown education system was, at some time, too drastic for its people. Immortality is the only true praise for a hero. Peter the Great was born into a family of royalty. a family of men and women who ultimately and inevitably made a difference in the lives of many others. Peter knew that he was in a position to change his subjects' way of life and improve Russian relations with strong European powers. Peter "had formed an outlook and ambitions which, however limited and incoherent ensure that Russia's future would be different from its past" 18 It is true that Peter made an amazing impact on Russia and shaped its future as one of Europe's great powers. He altered may aspects of daily life including his subjects' dress, conscription as well as, its economy and the beginnings of industrialization. It was because of Peters' decisive reforms that Russia was thrust into the forefront of the European political powers. "The many reforms instituted during his reign were in part determined by military needs, and in part by such factors as the need to improve the administration or to Westernize the state so that Russia should not be only imperial but modern in the European sense." 19 9 He was a revolutionary of his time. A motivated leader ready to implement the changes that were necessary in Russian. Some believe that his ideas were radical and that the actions taken were drastic, but Russia has reaped the benefits ever since. Peter the Great introduced such internal reforms as the abolition of the power of the aristocrats, the encouragement of industry and education, and the reorganization of the government of the state. He is a hero in the minds of many, a revolutionary who molded Russia into one of Europe's strongest powers.
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