The Forgotten Fold of History: The Impact of Peter the Great
Prompt: To what extent did Peter the Great change Russian society?
Written: May 2015
Peter the Great concerned himself with the life of every individual citizen, though not because of love for his people, but because of his obsession with western ways of living. His domestic reforms were deep and widespread. For example, he took power away from the Church and brought it under government control. When the head of the Church, Patriach Adrian, died in 1700, Peter failed to replace him. Without a leader, the government became the Church’s leader. Further, Peter oversaw the creation of academies, in order to bring European knowledge and wisdom to Russian citizens. He established the School of Navigation and Maths, Medicine, Engineering, and Science. Moreover, Peter circulated a nationwide newspaper, attempting to bring unity to the nation and ensure the general populace was informed about current events. Finally, Peter required government officials to adopt European clothing styles. In sum, religion, education, and culture bent to Peter’s will.
Peter was not content with mere Russian conformity to western lifestyles. He also wanted to ensure that his Russia would endure for ages to come. To accomplish this goal, he reformed the Russian military from top to bottom. For instance, the army swelled, strengthened, and unified under his direction. He saw to it that every soldier received the same training, in contrast to the army before Peter: an informal rag tag group of farmers and townspeople. Further, the Navy was Peter’s creation. He brought foreign generals from around Europe to begin building the Russian Navy, seeing as no native had the necessary background knowledge. When soldiers completed their training, they usurped their former leaders until the Navy was Russian through and through. Finally, the streltsy, one of the few professional units of the Russian military prior to Peter, was abolished to guard against the possibility of revolution.
To complete his master plan for Russia, he guaranteed the military had a competent government to lead it. Peter recreated the Russian government in at least four ways. First, boyars[2] were slowly supplanted by the establishment of the Table of Ranks, a list of ranks in the Russian government. Prior to Peter, noblemen gained their power hereditarily. The Table of Ranks, however, demanded that government positions be earned, not inherited. Over time, boyars were replaced by common citizens. Second, Russia’s administrative system was reorganized. Before Peter took the throne, the Russian state was divided into clumsy uyezds (large cities). Peter replaced uyezds with eight governorates (provinces), [3] each led by a governor. Each governorate was further divided into landrats, led by civil servants. Peter’s system ensured efficiency in administering the Russian state. Third, the Senat, a group of ten of Peter’s right-hand men, came into being.[4] Peter, inspired by England’s Parliament, wanted to create something similar in Russia. Fourth, he created the collegia, a group of nine government departments. There was a collegium of foreign affairs, state income, justice, accounting, war, and so forth. In sum, Peter created government departments and the senate, reorganized government administration, and replaced hereditary leadership with a merit-based system.
To conclude, Peter the Great westernized Russian lifestyle, military, and government. His impact on Russian history therefore cannot be understated. An interesting question arising at this point is: what would Russia be like today if Peter had never been born? Would someone else have arisen and done what Peter did? The answer may never be known. But what can be known is that Peter the Great allowed Russia to exist in the modern western world, rather than slide into the forgotten fold of history. For that reason, Peter deserves his title.
[1] A period referred to as “The Time of Troubles”, understandably enough.
[2] Russian noblemen who opposed Peter’s westernization policies.
[3] Moscow, Ingermanland, Kiev, Smolensk, Archangelgorod, Kazan, Azov, and Siberian, to be specific.
[4] A modern analogue might be the President’s cabinet members.
Peter was not content with mere Russian conformity to western lifestyles. He also wanted to ensure that his Russia would endure for ages to come. To accomplish this goal, he reformed the Russian military from top to bottom. For instance, the army swelled, strengthened, and unified under his direction. He saw to it that every soldier received the same training, in contrast to the army before Peter: an informal rag tag group of farmers and townspeople. Further, the Navy was Peter’s creation. He brought foreign generals from around Europe to begin building the Russian Navy, seeing as no native had the necessary background knowledge. When soldiers completed their training, they usurped their former leaders until the Navy was Russian through and through. Finally, the streltsy, one of the few professional units of the Russian military prior to Peter, was abolished to guard against the possibility of revolution.
To complete his master plan for Russia, he guaranteed the military had a competent government to lead it. Peter recreated the Russian government in at least four ways. First, boyars[2] were slowly supplanted by the establishment of the Table of Ranks, a list of ranks in the Russian government. Prior to Peter, noblemen gained their power hereditarily. The Table of Ranks, however, demanded that government positions be earned, not inherited. Over time, boyars were replaced by common citizens. Second, Russia’s administrative system was reorganized. Before Peter took the throne, the Russian state was divided into clumsy uyezds (large cities). Peter replaced uyezds with eight governorates (provinces), [3] each led by a governor. Each governorate was further divided into landrats, led by civil servants. Peter’s system ensured efficiency in administering the Russian state. Third, the Senat, a group of ten of Peter’s right-hand men, came into being.[4] Peter, inspired by England’s Parliament, wanted to create something similar in Russia. Fourth, he created the collegia, a group of nine government departments. There was a collegium of foreign affairs, state income, justice, accounting, war, and so forth. In sum, Peter created government departments and the senate, reorganized government administration, and replaced hereditary leadership with a merit-based system.
To conclude, Peter the Great westernized Russian lifestyle, military, and government. His impact on Russian history therefore cannot be understated. An interesting question arising at this point is: what would Russia be like today if Peter had never been born? Would someone else have arisen and done what Peter did? The answer may never be known. But what can be known is that Peter the Great allowed Russia to exist in the modern western world, rather than slide into the forgotten fold of history. For that reason, Peter deserves his title.
Notes
[1] A period referred to as “The Time of Troubles”, understandably enough.
[2] Russian noblemen who opposed Peter’s westernization policies.
[3] Moscow, Ingermanland, Kiev, Smolensk, Archangelgorod, Kazan, Azov, and Siberian, to be specific.
[4] A modern analogue might be the President’s cabinet members.
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