The role of Peter I in the history of Russia is difficult to overestimate. He is considered a great reformer, converter. The result of his work was a new form of government - an absolute monarchy and the creation of the nobility and bureaucracy, which radically changed the course of Russian history. Military and judicial reforms allowed Russia to become equal with the developed countries of Europe, and led to a significant increase in the country's territory. Each state exists at the expense of the economy, the level of formation of productive forces. A huge leap in this direction has moved the state to a new stage of development.
Background of the reforms in Russia
During the reign of Tsar Peter I, reforms affected all areas of the life of the Russian state. They were predetermined by the premises of the 17th century. The activities of Peter, who introduced the country to European culture, economics, government, production technologies, led to a painful breakdown of existing relations, ideas and norms that existed in Moscow Russia.
Thanks to the reform, the role of Peter I in the history of Russia becomes simply enormous. The country became a power that played an important role in the political life of Europe. The need for transformation has ripened in virtually all areas of life.
Peter I was well aware that carrying out reforms in any one area would not give the desired result. This was shown by the experience of previous rulers. Complicated events within the country required new forms of government. The long Northern War required reforms not only in the army and navy, but also in industry, especially metallurgy. What did Peter 1 do for the development of Russia?
Absolute monarchy
The absolute monarchy in Russia was called the autocracy. Ivan III, Ivan IV (Grozny), as well as Alexei Mikhailovich tried to come to this form of government by the state. In part, they succeeded. But the main obstacle in their path was a representative body - the boyar’s thought. They could not remove her from the political arena and had to reckon with the owners of large estates, who enjoyed influence in their possessions. This was possible only to Tsar Peter I.
It often happened that large and noble boyars were supported by their smaller relatives, forming rival groups in the Duma. From early childhood, Peter experienced this as a result of the intrigues of the Miloslavsky boyars, relatives of the first wife of Alexei Mikhailovich and Naryshkins, relatives of his mother, second wife of Alexei Mikhailovich. It was the state reforms of Peter I that were able to implement many transformations.
In the struggle for centralized power, he was supported by the nobles, the estate of service people who received the title not by inheritance, but for length of service or zeal in work. It was these people who were Peter's support in carrying out the reforms. For the development of Russia, the boyar clans and their feuds served as a brake.
The establishment of autocracy was possible with the centralization of the state, through the unification of all lands, reducing the influence on the king of the old aristocracy, which became possible through the elimination of the boyar Duma and Zemsky Cathedrals. As a result of this reform, Russia received autocracy (absolutism, unlimited monarchy). And Peter I went down in history as the last tsar of Russia and the first emperor of the Russian state.
The nobility and bureaucracy
In the pre-Petrine era, the ruling group consisted of secular feudal lords — boyars endowed with estates; nobles who owned estates. The border between the two estates was steadily declining. Often the estates exceeded the estates in size, the number of nobles grew due to the granting of titles to service people. New under Peter I was the creation of a noble-bureaucratic apparatus.
Prior to Peter I, the main distinguishing feature between the representatives of these estates was the inheritance of land, which was assigned to the boyars forever, and after the death of a nobleman, his relatives could only claim a small amount of maintenance. What did Peter I do? He simply secured the land for the nobles with an obligatory 25-year public service.
It was the nobles who became the support of the sovereigns, due to the prevailing traditions they were forced to serve in the service - both civilian and military. This estate was interested in centralized power, in strengthening the autocracy. The Time of Troubles (Seven Boyars) showed the unreliability of the boyar class.
Registration of the nobility
During the implementation of state reforms, Peter the Great formed a new hierarchy of service people who became known as officials. It was framed by the Table of Ranks of 1722, where all the ranks: military, state and court, are divided into 14 classes. The former included Field Marshal, Admiral General and Chancellor. The latter, the 14th, included lower ranks - such as college registrars, warrant officers, junior pharmacists, accountants, skippers of the 2nd rank and others.
At the beginning, each rank corresponded to the position held by the official. Privy advisers served in the Secret Chancellery, college advisers were listed in the colleges. Subsequently, the rank did not always correspond to the position held. For example, after the abolition of the collegiums, the rank of college adviser remained.
The advantage of military ranks over civilian
Peter I army paid all attention, as well as the fleet. He well understood that without her a country would not be able to defend its interests. Therefore, the interests of military servants prevailed over the interests of public servants. So, for example, the noble title was given to civilians from the 8th grade, to the military - from the 14th. The ranks in the guard were 2 classes higher than in the army.
Each nobleman was obliged to carry out public service - civil or military. The sons of the nobles, over 20 years old, were required to serve 25 years in any service: military, naval, civilian. The military offspring of the nobility came in 15 years and served in the early stages of the soldiers. The sons of senior officials were in the ranks of the soldiers in the guard.
Clergy
After the nobility, the clergy marched in the hierarchy of Russian estates. Orthodoxy was the main religion of the state. The ministers of the church had a large number of privileges, which, in principle, Tsar Peter I left for them. Priests were exempted from various taxes and public service. The sovereign reduced the number of monks, considering them parasites, and determined that a person of mature age who can live without a wife can become a monk.
The dissatisfaction, and sometimes the confrontation, of the Russian Orthodox Church with all the reforms of Peter I, its undoubted authority among the people, led him to the conclusion of proactive reforms, which, he acknowledged, would not allow the new impostor to grow out of her ranks. To this end, he proclaims the submission of the church to the monarch. In 1701, the Monastic order was formed, which was in charge of all the monasteries with lands.
Military reform
The main concern of Peter I was the army and navy. Having dispersed the archers, he practically left the country without an army; there was no fleet in it. His dream was access to the Baltic Sea. A powerful incentive for military reform was the defeat of Narva, which showed the backwardness of the army. Peter I understood that the Russian economy could not provide high-quality weapons and equipment. There were not enough factories. There was no technology. I had to start all over again.
Back in 1694, conducting Kozhukhov maneuvers, the future emperor came to the conclusion that the regiments, arranged according to a foreign model, are much superior to the archery units. Therefore, after 4 years they were dissolved. Instead, the army consisted of four regiments, created according to the Western model: Semenovsky, Lefortovsky, Preobrazhensky, Butyrsky. They served as the basis of the new Russian army. In 1699, on his orders, a recruitment was announced. Recruits were trained. Along with this, a large number of foreign officers joined the army.
The result of the reforms of Peter I was a victory in the Northern War. She showed the combat readiness of the Russian army. Instead of the militia, regular and well-trained regiments were formed, which were fully supported by the state. Peter I left behind a combat-ready army that was able to repel any enemy.
The creation of the navy by Peter I
The first Russian fleet, created by Peter I, took part in the Azov campaign. It consisted of 2 battleships, 4 firewalls, 23 galley ships and 1300 plows. All of them were built under the leadership of the king on the Voronezh River. This was the basis of the Russian fleet. After the Azov fortress was captured, the boyar thought approved the decision of Peter I to build ships for the Baltic.
Shipyards were built on the estuaries of the Olonka, Luga and Syasa rivers, where galleys were built. Sailboats were purchased and built to protect the coast and attacks on enemy ships. They were based not far from St. Petersburg, a base was later built in Kronstadt. The following were the bases in Vyborg, Abo, Revel and Helsingfors. Fleet was controlled by the Admiralty Order.
Education reform
Education under Peter I made a grand leap. For the army and navy, educated commanders were needed. Peter I took a decisive position on the issue of education, realizing that foreign specialists would not be able to solve the problem of a shortage of qualified personnel. Therefore, a school of navigation and mathematical sciences and a number of schools, such as artillery, medical, and engineering, are opening in Moscow.
Education under Peter I after the army was a priority. The Maritime Academy is open in the new capital. At the Ural and Olonets factories, mining schools were organized, which trained engineers. A project was created to create the Academy of Sciences, a university and a gymnasium.
Economic transformation
In the Russian economy, a reorientation from small industrial enterprises to manufactories has become new. Their total number was more than two hundred. The autocrat encouraged their creation in every possible way. It should be noted right away that the Russian manufactory was different from the European one in that the main productive force on it were peasants.
The manufactories were state-owned, landowners and merchants. They produced gunpowder, nitrate, cloth, glass, linen, metal and articles thereof, and much more. Russia began to take first place in the world in metal production.
To support Russian manufacturers, high customs duties were introduced. To wage war, money and human resources were needed. Population censuses. The tax was now collected from the male population, regardless of age. Its size was 70 kopecks per year from the heart. This allowed to increase the collection of taxes four times.
Cheap labor made goods competitive in European markets. There was an accumulation of capital, which made it possible to modernize enterprises. In Russia there was a diversified industry. Its main centers were located in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and the Urals.
Consequences of Reforms
Scientists are still arguing about the role of Peter I in the history of Russia. His reforms were spontaneous, outlined during the long Northern War, which exposed Russia's backwardness in many areas of life. The economic and technical lag behind the developed countries of Europe was overcome; access to the Baltic was opened, which made trade with Europe more accessible and profitable.
The role of Peter I in the history of Russia is perceived ambiguously by many historians. The strengthening of Russia as a state, the strengthening of absolutism in the form of autocracy, an economic breakthrough put Russia on a par with the countries of Europe. But by what methods it was done! According to the historian Klyuchevsky, an absolute monarchy, which wanted to drag its subjects into the present from the Middle Ages, contained a fundamental contradiction. It was expressed in a series of palace coups later.
The autocracy brutally exploited the peasants, turning them almost into slaves. Over 40 thousand peasants, torn from their homes and families, worked on the construction of St. Petersburg. Families who fled from this penal servitude were taken into custody until they were found. Peasants built factories, bridges, manufactories, roads. Their conditions were terrible. Recruitment sets were carried out from peasants, their duties periodically increased. The whole burden of reform fell on the shoulders of the people.