One can talk about the activities of the Russian emperor Peter the Great almost endlessly. He was a bright man, and the trace in the history of Russia was so noticeable that the descendants are still arguing, for which Pyotr Alekseevich put a bold plus, and what matters can be attributed to the minuses. What, in fact, prompted the Russian emperor to begin global restructuring? What are the reasons for the reforms of Peter 1? What did not suit him in the structure of the Russian state of that time? Why couldn't he, like many other kings, calmly, without doing anything, enjoy power over vast territories? What did he miss? To understand this, you have to take a brief excursion into history and consider the main state reforms of Peter 1.
The reign of Peter 1
The years of the reign of Emperor Peter the Great were very difficult for our state. It was a time of great war and transformation. The situation in the country often required immediate and bold decisions. Later it was said that many reforms of Peter the Great were not thought out and adopted in haste, not taking into account the peculiarities of specific areas and areas. But the fact of the matter is that many sovereign reforms were adopted as temporary measures while the country was in a state of war or crisis. Unfortunately, wars and crises in Russia almost never ended, and temporary reforms smoothly flowed into long-term ones, while remaining undeveloped.
This is not to say that all of his reforms are not thought out. Many were just called to put things in order. Such were the reforms of the administration of Peter 1. He replaced the Boyar Duma with the Senate, which, in fact, served only to promulgate his decrees. According to management reform, Peter 1 personally adopted all the laws. Thus, the emperor simplified the management of the country as much as possible.
The church reform of Peter 1 was also carried out with the aim of simplifying management as much as possible and ending disagreements. She completely transferred the church under state control, abolishing the post of patriarch. Church reform of Peter 1 actually turned the Russian clergy into government officials.
Transformation Goal
It is important to remember that all the reasons for the reforms of Peter 1 in one way or another were due to the fact that Russia really needed access to the coast of the Baltic Sea. The Russian Tsar could not sleep peacefully while the Swedes ruled there. The emperor knew that victory in this war would automatically change Russia's geopolitical position. He was interested in accepting his country into a family of European states. Peter struggled to bring the level of development of his country to the states of Europe. Today, many of the goals of Peter the Great's reforms in this area are considered controversial. Historians disagree about their performance. Of course, all these actions of Emperor Peter the Great were a serious step in the development of the state. At the same time, the rush and some chaos in the application of these European principles in Russia led to the fact that only a small number of people learned all the rules. Mostly they were nobles. For the rest of the country's population, nothing has changed.
Value Conversions
Briefly, the activities of Emperor Peter the Great can be characterized by the following points:
- Russia finally broke through to the Baltic.
- It became an empire (respectively, Peter 1 became emperor).
- Joined the “friendly European family” and got its role in the international political arena.
- She increased her status by an order of magnitude (they began to reckon with her).
In this regard, Emperor Peter 1 was simply obliged to carry out serious transformations. Naturally, this affected legislation, administrative and bureaucratic systems. It is worth noting that these changes were very effective and existed without significant changes until 1917. Therefore, we can confidently say that in this direction the emperor achieved his goal.
Emperor Reform Results
Not everything went smoothly with the innovations of Peter Alekseevich. After all, almost all of his ideas demanded increased pressure on the population - both financial and physical. And this is not only about peasants. All layers were operated without exception. A large number of military campaigns created huge financial problems.
The economic reforms of Peter 1 consisted of encouraging the development of industry, the construction of new plants and factories, and the development of deposits. The king strongly supported trade.
There were unpleasant moments in the economic reforms of Peter 1. Despite his disposition to trade, Peter taxed merchants huge taxes. Production existed at the expense of the labor of serfs, which were attached by whole villages to factories.
Social reform
Most of all, social reforms influenced Russian society. Many history scholars believe that it was then that society finally divided into layers. Mainly due to the well-known document “Rank Report”. This paper identified and consolidated the position of civil servants (military and civil servants). In addition, under Peter, the issue of serfdom was finalized.
Some historians believe that there is nothing strange in these changes, they were natural, given the situation. In addition, they mainly touched the top of society.
Cultural Reforms
State reforms of Peter 1 affected not only the military operations of the army and state administration. They were especially noticeable in their cultural appearance. Most likely, this is due to the fact that our traditions and customs were very different from European values. The emperor’s main goal was not to force the Russians to wear European clothes or eat Western food, but to adapt, synchronize Russian life with European culture.
Be that as it may, he did not achieve special results in this field. Peter really wanted the nobles to receive a decent education. For this, various institutes and other educational institutions were built. Russia vitally needed scientists and engineers to build factories, factories, cities and ships. However, most of the noble children preferred to continue to lead the old way of life.
The main results of Peter's activity in this area were shown after his death, during the reign of his successors - Elizabeth, Catherine II. The “chicks of Petrov’s nest” played a huge role in the continuation of the reforming activity. They continued his work and determined the policies of his successors.
Transformation in the military sphere
It is difficult to overestimate what the Russian emperor did for the army. There are even such historians who say that the main reforms were Peter the Great, and all the rest only contributed to our military successes. It was then that a regular army was created, having won so many great and glorious victories.
The Russians successfully competed with the best armies in the world. According to the military reform of Peter 1, a recruitment system was introduced. This meant that each court was obliged to provide a certain number of soldiers for the army. This system has been around for quite some time. In the mid-19th century, Emperor Alexander II replaced it with general military service. The fact that the system has existed for so long completely proves its expediency and effectiveness over a given period of time.
Fleet construction
In addition to creating an army, a huge plus can be put to the Russian emperor for organizing a regular navy. Russia won a number of brilliant naval victories in battles with Sweden, firmly securing the place of a naval power. Despite the fact that after the departure of Peter the construction of ships slowed down significantly, nevertheless, Russia brilliantly proved itself in many naval battles. Most of these victories occurred under Catherine II.
A distinctive feature of Peter was that he did not build ships for today's specific purposes. He really wanted to see his country as a great sea power. And he did it!
Diplomacy
The success of the reforms of that time is also proved by the fact that it was then, under Peter 1, that Russia rose to a high international level. It so happened that after reaching the Baltic Sea and joining the “friendly European family”, no significant international event took place without the participation of Russia. It was then that the foundation of Russian diplomacy was formed. We can say that this was the time of the appearance of the Russian diplomatic corps. This was necessary, since Russia participated in almost all major European wars, and all the mainland troubles, one way or another, concerned its state interests. Experienced, educated diplomats were simply worth their weight in gold.
Question of succession
In this list of wonderful things that our great ancestor managed to “create” in his life, it would be unfair not to mention one significant minus. After the tragic events connected with Tsarevich Alexei, the Tsar issues a decree allowing the emperor himself to choose his successor. Perhaps at that time this was a perfectly reasonable decision, but, dying, Pyotr Alekseevich never appointed an heir. This led to intrigue, murder, and palace coups. All this negatively affected not only the domestic, but also the foreign policy of the Russian state. Emperors changed one after another. The political course of the state was constantly being reconstructed, blood was pouring, the economy was cracking at the seams, until, finally, Emperor Pavel 1 canceled this ill-fated decree, which brought so much trouble. From that moment, the eldest son again became the heir to the Russian throne.
Conclusion
As a conclusion, it can be noted that there were still more advantages from Peter's reforms. The fact that many of his reforms remained unchanged for several decades and even centuries, proves that the ruler of Russia chose the right course. His activities are fully consistent with the country's needs. The results of the reforms of Peter 1 prove that his actions to modernize the state were deep and effective. And this despite the fact that most of them were dictated by military needs. Here is just a small list of Peter the Great's reforms:
- Reform of public administration.
- Regional reform.
- Judicial Reform
- Military reform.
- Church reform.
- Financial reform.
- Education reform.
- Reform of the autocracy.
This, of course, is by no means a complete list of the transformations of the Russian Empire that its first emperor committed, but they perfectly show the scale of the work done. Among modern historians and researchers, there are a lot of opinions about the reforms of the first Russian emperor. Often they are directly opposite.
One well-known politician once said: “There is one thing that I will not agree to for any benefits in the world - it is to be the ruler of Russia! Great people, great country, but God forbid to be on its throne! ”
You can judge Peter 1 as much as you like, analyze his mistakes and shortcomings, but perhaps this was one of the few of our rulers who thought not only about himself!