How Did Peter The Great Change Russia

Peter the Smashing

The early years of Peter the Great were marked by ability struggles amidst multiple heirs to the Russian tsardom besides equally Peter'south European travels, which greatly inspired his modernizing reforms.

Learning Objectives

Describe Peter the Great'due south early life

Key Takeaways

Primal Points

• Peter the Corking of the House of Romanov ruled the Tsardom of Russia and later the Russian Empire from 1682 until his death. The Romanovs took over Russia in 1613, and the get-go decades of their reign were marked past attempts to restore peace, both internally and with Russia'southward rivals.
• Subsequently Alexis I's (Peter's male parent) death, a ability struggle between the Miloslavsky family unit (of Alexis's first married woman) and the Naryshkin family unit (of Alexis'south 2nd wife) ensued. Eventually, Peter'southward one-half-brother, Ivan V, and ten-yr-one-time Peter became co-tsars, with Sophia Alekseyevna, i of Alexis's daughters from his get-go marriage, acting equally regent.
• Sophia was eventually overthrown, with Peter I and Ivan V continuing to human action as co-tsars, withal power was exercised generally by Peter'due south female parent. It was only when Nataliya died in 1694 that Peter became an contained sovereign, and the sole ruler afterward Ivan's decease in 1696.
• Peter implemented sweeping reforms aimed at modernizing Russia. Heavily influenced by his advisers from Western Europe, he reorganized the Russian army along modern lines and dreamed of making Russian federation a maritime power.
• Knowing that Russia could non confront the Ottoman Empire alone, in 1697 Peter traveled incognito to Europe with the then-chosen Grand Embassy to seek the aid of the European monarchs. The mission failed, as Europe was at the time preoccupied with the question of the Spanish succession.
• The European trip, although politically a failure, exposed Peter to Western European artists, scientists, craftsmen, and noble families. This broadened his intellectual horizons and convinced him that Russian federation should follow Western Europe in certain respects.

Key Terms

• Grand Embassy: A Russian embassy sent to Western Europe in 1697–1698 by Peter the Great. The goal of this mission was to strengthen and augment the Holy League, Russia's alliance with a number of European countries against the Ottoman Empire in its struggle for the northern coastline of the Black Body of water.
• boyars: Members of the highest rank of the feudal Bulgarian, Moscovian, Ruthenian (Ukraine and Belarus), Wallachian, and Moldavian aristocracies, 2nd only to the ruling princes (or tsars), from the tenth century to the 17th century.
• serfdom: The status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism. Information technology was a condition of bondage that developed primarily during the Loftier Centre Ages in Europe and lasted in some countries until the mid-19th century.

Political Background

Peter the Great of the House of Romanov (1672–1725) ruled the Tsardom of Russia and later the Russian Empire from 1682 until his death, jointly ruling before 1696 with his elderberry half-brother, Ivan Five. The Romanovs took over Russia in 1613, and the first decades of their reign were marked by attempts to restore peace, both internally and with Russia's rivals, most notably Poland and Sweden.
In club to avoid more ceremonious war, the peachy nobles, or boyars , cooperated with the beginning Romanovs, enabling them to stop the work of bureaucratic centralization. Thus, the state required service from both the quondam and the new nobility, primarily in the armed services. In return, the tsars immune the boyars to complete the process of enserfing the peasants. With the land now fully sanctioning serfdom, peasant rebellions were endemic.

Peter the Great: Early Years

From an early historic period, Peter's education (commissioned past his male parent, Tsar Alexis I) was put in the hands of several tutors. In 1676, Tsar Alexis died, leaving the sovereignty to Peter's elder half-blood brother, Feodor Three. Throughout this period, the government was largely run by Artamon Matveev, an enlightened friend of Alexis, the political head of the Naryshkin family (Natalya Naryshkina was Alexis's 2nd wife and Peter's mother) and i of Peter's greatest babyhood benefactors. This changed when Feodor died in 1682. Equally he did not leave any children, a dispute arose betwixt the Miloslavsky family (Maria Miloslavskaya was the outset married woman of Alexis I) and the Naryshkin family over who should inherit the throne. Peter's other half-blood brother, Ivan Five, was next in line for the throne, only he was chronically ill. Consequently, the Boyar Duma (a council of Russian nobles) chose 10-year-sometime Peter to become tsar, with his mother as regent. However, Sophia Alekseyevna, i of Alexis'south daughters from his first wedlock, led a rebellion of the Streltsy (Russian federation'due south aristocracy war machine corps), which fabricated information technology possible for her, the Miloslavskys (the clan of Ivan), and their allies to insist that Peter and Ivan exist proclaimed articulation tsars, with Ivan being acclaimed every bit the senior. Sophia acted as regent during the minority of the sovereigns and exercised all power. For 7 years, she ruled as an autocrat.

Peter the Smashing every bit a child, artist unknown

Peter'south childhood was marked by ability struggles between the families of Alexis I's first and 2d wives. Although he was named a co-tsar in 1682, at the age of x, he did not become an contained and sole ruler until 1696.

Taking Over the Power

While Peter was not specially concerned that others ruled in his name, his female parent sought to force him to adopt a more conventional approach. She arranged his marriage to Eudoxia Lopukhina in 1689, only the marriage was a failure. Ten years later on Peter forced his wife to become a nun and thus freed himself from the wedlock.

By the summer of 1689, Peter planned to have ability from his half-sister Sophia, whose position had been weakened by two unsuccessful Crimean campaigns. After a power struggle, in which the Streltsy was forced to shift its loyalty, Sophia was eventually overthrown, with Peter I and Ivan V continuing to act as co-tsars. Yet Peter could non acquire actual command over Russian diplomacy. Power was instead exercised past his mother, Natalya Naryshkina. Information technology was simply when Nataliya died in 1694 that Peter became an independent sovereign, and the sole ruler after Ivan'due south death in 1696.

Early Reign

Peter implemented sweeping reforms aimed at modernizing Russia. Heavily influenced by his directorate from Western Europe, he reorganized the Russian army along modernistic lines and dreamed of making Russian federation a maritime power. He also implemented social modernization in an absolute manner by introducing French and western dress to his court and requiring courtiers, state officials, and the military to shave their beards and prefer modernistic clothing styles. I means of achieving this end was the introduction of taxes for long beards and robes in September 1698. The move provoked opposition from the boyars.

To ameliorate his nation's position on the seas, Peter sought to proceeds more maritime outlets and attempted to learn command of the Black Sea, at the time controlled past the Ottoman Empire. To do and then, he would have to expel the Tatars from the surrounding areas, but the initial attempts ended in failure. Notwithstanding, afterward the 1695 initiative to build a large navy, he officially founded the starting time Russian Navy base, Taganrog (Sea of Azov).

Peter knew that Russia could not face the Ottoman Empire solitary. In 1697 he traveled incognito to Europe on an eighteen-month journey with a large Russian delegatio—the and so-called K Embassy—to seek the aid of the European monarchs.
The mission failed, as Europe was at the time preoccupied with the question of the Spanish succession. Peter'south visit was cut brusque in 1698, when he was forced to rush home past a rebellion of the Streltsy. The rebellion was easily crushed, but Peter acted ruthlessly towards the mutineers. Over 1,200 of the rebels were tortured and executed, and Peter ordered that their bodies be publicly exhibited equally a warning to future conspirators. The Streltsy were disbanded.

Peter'south European Education

Although the Grand Embassy failed to complete its political mission of creating an anti-Ottoman alliance, Peter continued the European trip, learning nearly life in Western Europe. While visiting the netherlands, he studied shipbuilding and visited with families of fine art and coin collectors. From Dutch experts, craftsmen, and artists, Peter learned how to depict teeth, take hold of collywobbles, and pigment seascapes. In England, he also engaged in painting and navy-related activities, as well as visited Manchester in order to learn the techniques of city building that he would later use to great outcome at Leningrad. Furthermore, in 1698 Peter sent a delegation to Republic of malta to discover the training and abilities of the Knights of Republic of malta and their armada.

Peter's visits to the West impressed upon him the notion that European customs were in several respects superior to Russian traditions. Dissimilar well-nigh of his predecessors and successors, he attempted to follow Western European traditions, fashions, and tastes. He also sought to terminate arranged marriages, which were the norm among the Russian dignity, because he idea such a practice was barbaric and led to domestic violence, since the partners usually resented each other.

A statue of Peter I working incognito at a Dutch wharf, St. Petersburg

Peter the Keen learned the shipbuilding craft in The netherlands in 1697. It was ane of many skills that he acquired during his Western European trip.

The Westernization of Russia

In society to modernize a socially and economically lagging Russia, Peter the Great introduced sweeping social, administrative, and economic reforms that westernized Russia to a certain extent, nevertheless did not alter deeply feudal divisions in the increasingly authoritarian state.

Learning Objectives

Discuss the reasons why Peter worked and then hard to forcibly westernize Russia

Key Takeaways

Central Points

• In his effort to modernize Russia, the largest state in the globe, just ane that was economically and socially lagging, Peter introduced
  autocracy and played a major role in introducing his country to the European state organization. His visits to the West impressed upon him the notion that European community were in several respects superior to Russian traditions.
• Heavily influenced past his advisers from Western Europe, he reorganized the Russian army along modern lines and dreamed of making Russia a maritime ability.
• His social reforms included the requirement of Western way in his courtroom (including facial hair for men), attempts to cease arranged marriages, and the introduction of the Julian Agenda in 1700.
• Ane of Peter's most audacious goals was reducing the influence of the  boyars, or the feudal aristocracy class. He did this by imposing taxes and services on them every bit well as introducing comprehensive administrative reforms that opened civil service to commoners. Yet, sharp form divisions, including the already tragic fate of serfs, only deepened.
• Revenue enhancement and trade reforms enabled the Russian land to aggrandize its treasury virtually sixfold between 1680 and 1724.
• Legislation under Peter's rule covered every aspect of life in Russia, and his reform contributed profoundly to Russian federation'due south military successes and the increase in revenue and productivity. Overall, Peter created a land that further legitimized and strengthened authoritarian rule in Russia.

Key Terms

• Tabular array of Ranks: A formal list of positions and ranks in the military, government, and court of Imperial Russia. Peter the Great introduced the system in 1722 while engaged in a struggle with the existing hereditary nobility, or boyars. Information technology was formally abolished in 1917 by the newly established Bolshevik government.
• kholops: Feudally dependent persons in Russia between the 10th and early on 18th centuries. Their legal status was close to that of serfs but in reality closest to that of slaves.
• serfdom: The status of many peasants under bullwork, specifically relating to manorialism. It was a status of bondage that developed primarily during the High Heart Ages in Europe and lasted in some countries until the mid-19th century.
• Collegia: Authorities departments in Imperial Russia established in 1717 by Peter the Great. The departments were housed in Leningrad.
• boyars: Members of the highest rank of the feudal Bulgarian, Moscovian, Ruthenian, (Ukraine and Belarus), Wallachian, and Moldavian aristocracies, second only to the ruling princes (or tsars), from the 10th century to the 17th century.

Russia at the Turn of the 18th Century

By the time Peter the Slap-up became tsar, Russia was the largest country in the world, stretching from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean. Much of Russian federation'southward expansion had taken identify in the 17th century, culminating in the first Russian settlement of the Pacific in the mid-17th century, the reconquest of Kiev, and the pacification of the Siberian tribes. However, the vast majority of the land was unoccupied, travel was irksome, and the majority of the population of xiv million depended on farming. While only a pocket-sized percentage lived in towns, Russian agriculture, with its short growing season, was ineffective and lagged backside that of Western Europe. The class of kholops, or feudally dependent persons similar to serfs, but whose status was closest to slavery, remained a major institution in Russia until 1723, when Peter converted household kholops into house serfs, thus including them in poll taxation (Russian agricultural kholops were formally converted into serfs in 1679). Russia also remained isolated from the ocean trade and its internal trade communications and many manufactures were dependent on the seasonal changes.

Peter and Western Europe

Peter I the Slap-up introduced autocracy in Russia and played a major role in introducing his country to the European state system. His visits to the West impressed upon him the notion that European community were in several respects superior to Russian traditions. Heavily influenced by his directorate from Western Europe, he reorganized the Russian ground forces along modernistic lines and dreamed of making Russia a maritime power. He besides commanded all of his courtiers and officials to wear European clothing and cut off their long beards, causing nifty upset among boyars, or the feudal elites. Those who sought to retain their beards were required to pay an annual beard tax of one hundred rubles.

Peter as well introduced critical social reform. He sought to stop arranged marriages, which were the norm amidst the Russian nobility, seeing the practice as barbaric and leading to domestic violence. In 1699, he changed the date of the celebration of the new year from September 1 to January 1. Traditionally, the years were reckoned from the purported cosmos of the globe, simply after Peter'due south reforms, they were to exist counted from the birth of Christ. Thus, in the year 7207 of the old Russian agenda, Peter proclaimed that the Julian Calendar was in issue and the year was 1700.

Peter the Great by Jean-Marc Nattier, 1717

Administrative Reforms

One of Peter'southward major goals was reducing the influence of the boyars, who stressed Slavic supremacy and opposed European influence. While their ascendancy had declined since the reign of Ivan the Terrible, the Boyar Duma, an informational council to the tsar, even so wielded considerable political ability. Peter saw them as backwards and equally obstacles standing in the way of Europeanization and reform. He specifically targeted boyars with numerous taxes and obligatory services.

Prior to Peter's rule, Russia's administrative system was relatively antiquated compared to that of many Western European nations. The state was divided into uyezds, which mostly consisted of cities and their firsthand surrounding areas. In 1708, Peter abolished these former national subdivisions and established in their place eight governorates. In 1711, a new state body was established: the Governing Senate. All its members were appointed by the tsar from amid his ain associates, and information technology originally consisted of ten people. All appointments and resignations of senators occurred by personal imperial decrees. The senate did not interrupt the activity and was the permanent operating state body. Some other decree in 1713 established Landrats (from the German discussion for "national quango") in each of the governorates, staffed by between eight and twelve professional person civil servants, who assisted a royally-appointed governor. In 1719, after the establishment of government departments known every bit the Collegia, Peter remade Russia's administrative divisions once more than. The new provinces were modeled on the Swedish organization, in which larger, more politically important areas received more political autonomy, while smaller, more than rural areas were controlled more than directly by the state.

Peter's distrust of the elitist and anti-reformist boyars culminated in 1722 with the cosmos of the Table of Ranks —a formal list of ranks in the Russian war machine, authorities, and regal court. The Table of Ranks established a complex system of titles and honorifics, each classed with a number denoting a specific level of service or loyalty to the tsar; this was amongst the most adventurous of Peter's reforms. Previously, high-ranking state positions were hereditary, but with the establishment of the Table of Ranks, anyone, including a commoner, could work their way up the bureaucratic hierarchy with sufficient hard piece of work and skill. A new generation of technocrats shortly supplanted the sometime boyar course and dominated the civil service in Russian federation. With minimal modifications, the Table of Ranks remained in issue until the Russian Revolution of 1917.

A manuscript copy of the 1722 Tabular array of Ranks

Finance

Peter's regime was constantly in dire need of coin, and at first it responded by monopolizing certain strategic industries, such equally salt, vodka, oak, and tar. Peter as well taxed many Russian cultural customs (such as bathing, fishing, beekeeping, or wearing beards) and issued revenue enhancement stamps for newspaper goods. However, with each new revenue enhancement came new loopholes and new ways to avoid them, and then information technology became articulate that revenue enhancement reform was only not enough.

The solution was a sweeping new poll tax, which replaced a household tax on cultivated country. Previously, peasants had skirted the taxation by combining several households into one estate. At present, each peasant was assessed individually for a tax paid in cash. This new tax was significantly heavier than the taxes it replaced, and it enabled the Russian land to expand its treasury virtually sixfold between 1680 and 1724. Peter also pursued proto-protectionist merchandise policies, placing heavy tariffs on imports and trade to maintain a favorable surroundings for Russian-fabricated appurtenances.

Subjugation of the Working Masses

Peter's reign deepened the subjugation of serfs to the will of landowners. He firmly enforced class divisions and his tax code significantly expanded the number of taxable workers, shifting an even heavier burden onto the shoulders of the working form. A handful of Peter'southward reforms reflected a limited understanding of certain Enlightenment ideals. For instance, he created a new class of serfs, known as country peasants, who had broader rights than ordinary serfs but even so paid dues to the state. He also created state-sanctioned handicraft shops in large cities, inspired by similar shops he had observed in the Netherlands, to provide products for the regular army. Show suggests that Peter'south advisers recommended the abolition of serfdom and the creation of a form of "limited freedom," but the gap between slaves and serfs shrank considerably under Peter. By the finish of his reign the 2 were basically duplicate.

Outcomes

Peter's reforms set him apart from the tsars that preceded him. In Muscovite Russia, the state's functions were limited mostly to armed forces defense, collection of taxes, and enforcement of class divisions. In contrast, legislation under Peter's dominion covered every aspect of life in Russia with exhaustive detail, and it significantly affected the everyday lives of nigh every Russian citizen. The success of reform contributed greatly to Russia's military successes and the increase in revenue and productivity. More than importantly, Peter created a land that further legitimized and strengthened authoritarian rule in Russia. Testaments to this lasting influence are the many public institutions in the Soviet Marriage and the Russian federation, which trace their origins dorsum to Peter'southward rule.

Peter's Foreign Policy

The strange policy of Peter the Great focused on the goal of making Russia a maritime power and turned Russia into one of the most powerful states in Europe, shifting the European balance of power.

Learning Objectives

Analyze Peter's foreign policy goals and the extent to which he achieved them

Key Takeaways

Cardinal Points

• To improve his nation's position on the seas, Peter the Great sought to gain more than maritime outlets. The goal of making Russian federation a maritime ability shaped Peter's foreign policy.
• Peter's first war machine efforts were directed confronting the Ottoman Turks. While his efforts to gain access to the Azov Ocean eventually failed, his alliance with the Ottoman Empire against Persia allowed him to access the Caspian Sea.
• Peter's rule was dominated by the Great Northern State of war, in which he and his allies successfully challenged the authorization of Sweden in the Baltic region. As a result of this war, Russia gained vast Baltic territories and became one of the greatest powers in Europe.
• While during Peter's reign Russia did not formally wage wars with Poland-Lithuania, Peter made the about of the internal anarchy and power struggles in the Polish-Lithuanian Republic. He secured formerly Shine-Lithuanian territories in Ukraine and had an affect on internal politics in the Commonwealth.
• Peter's foreign policy turned the Tsardom into the Russian Empire and left Russia one of the most powerful states in Europe and a major actor in global politics.

Key Terms

• Treaty of Nystad: The terminal peace treaty of the Slap-up Northern War of 1700–1721. It was ended between the Tsardom of Russia and the Swedish Empire in 1721 in the then-Swedish town of Nystad. Information technology shifted the residuum of power in the Baltic region from Sweden to Russia.
• Great Northern War: A 1700–1721 conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Central, Northern, and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swedish alliance were Peter the Nifty of Russia, Frederick Four of Kingdom of denmark–Norway, and Augustus II the Strong of Saxony–Poland.
• Treaty of Thorn: A treaty concluded in 1709 betwixt Augustus the Strong of Poland–Republic of lithuania and Peter the Great of Russia during the Great Northern War. The parties revived their alliance, which Charles XII of Sweden had destroyed in the Treaty of Altranstädt (1706), and agreed on restoring the Shine crown to Augustus.
• Eternal Peace Treaty of 1686: A treaty between the Tsardom of Russian federation and the Shine-Lithuanian Commonwealth signed in 1686 in Moscow. The treaty secured Russia's possession of left-bank Ukraine plus the right-depository financial institution city of Kiev. The region of Zaporizhian Sich, Siverian lands, cities of Chernihiv, Starodub, Smolensk, and its outskirts were besides ceded to Russia, while Poland retained right-depository financial institution Ukraine.

Introduction

Peter the Bully became tsar in 1682 upon the expiry of his elder brother Feodor, only did not become the actual ruler until 1689. He commenced reforming the country, attempting to plough the Russian Tsardom into a modernized empire relying on trade and on a potent, professional person army and navy. Heavily influenced past his advisers from Western Europe, he reorganized the Russian army forth modernistic lines and dreamed of making Russia a maritime ability. To meliorate his nation's position on the seas, Peter sought to gain more maritime outlets. His merely outlet at the fourth dimension was the White Sea at Arkhangelsk. The Baltic Sea was controlled by Sweden in the north, while the Blackness Sea and the Caspian Body of water were controlled by the Ottoman Empire and Safavid Empire respectively in the southward.

Peter the Swell and the Ottoman Empire

Peter's beginning war machine efforts were directed against the Ottoman Turks. Afterward the Turkish failure to accept Vienna in 1683, Russia joined Republic of austria, Poland, and Venice in the Holy League (1684) to bulldoze the Turks south. Russia and Poland signed the Eternal Peace Treaty of 1686, in which Poland–Lithuania agreed to recognize the Russian incorporation of Kiev and the left-bank of the Ukraine. The Russo–Turkish State of war of 1686–1700 followed as role of the joint European effort to confront the Ottoman Empire (the larger European conflict was known as the Great Turkish War). During the war, the Russian regular army organized the Crimean campaigns of 1687 and 1689, which ended in Russian defeats. Despite these setbacks, Russian federation launched the Azov campaigns in 1695 and 1696 and successfully occupied Azov (northern extension of the Blackness Ocean) in 1696. However, the gains did not last long. The Russo–Ottoman War of 1710–1711, also known as the Pruth River Campaign, erupted as a consequence of the defeat of Sweden by the Russian Empire in the Boxing of Poltava (1709) during the ongoing Great Northern State of war. The conflict was ended by the 1711 Treaty of the Pruth, which stipulated that Russia return Azov to the Ottomans, and the Russian Azov fleet was destroyed.

Capture of Azov by Russian emperor Peter the Cracking (on horseback) by Adriaan van Schoonebeek, (1699)

While Peter successfully occupied Azov in 1696, the gains did non terminal long. The Russo-Ottoman State of war of 1710–1711 was ended by the 1711 Treaty of the Pruth, which stipulated that Russian federation return Azov to the Ottomans.

However, Peter managed to gain admission to the Caspian Sea. In the Russo–Farsi War (1722–1723), Russian federation had managed to conquer swaths of Safavid Irans territories in the North Caucasus, Transcaucasia, and northern mainland Islamic republic of iran, while the Ottoman Turks had invaded and conquered all Iranian territories in the west. The two governments eventually signed a 1724 treaty in Constantinople, dividing a large portion of Islamic republic of iran between them. The annexed Iranian lands located on the east of the conjunction of the rivers Kurosh (Kur) and Aras were given to the Russians, while the lands on the west went to the Ottomans.

Neat Northern State of war

Between the years of 1560 and 1658, Sweden created a Baltic empire centered on the Gulf of Finland. Peter the Great wanted to re-establish a Baltic presence by regaining access to the territories that Russian federation had lost to Sweden in the first decades of the 17th century. In the late 1690s, the adventurer Johann Patkul managed to ally Russia with Denmark and Saxony past the secret Treaty of Preobrazhenskoye. As Augustus II the Strong, elector of Saxony, gained the Polish crown in 1696, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, at conflict with Sweden since the mid-17th century, automatically became a member of the alliance.

In 1700, Peter, supported by his allies, declared war on Sweden, which was at the time led by eighteen-year-old Male monarch Charles XII. A threefold assault at Swedish Holstein-Gottorp, Swedish Livonia, and Swedish Ingria did not overwhelm the inexperienced Charles XII. Sweden parried the Danish and Russian attacks at Travendal and Narva, and in a counter-offensive pushed Augustus II'due south forces through the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth to Saxony, dethroning Augustus on the manner and forcing him to admit defeat in the Treaty of Altranstädt (Augustus was restored in 1709). The treaty also secured the extradition and execution of Patkul, the architect of the anti-Swedish alliance. Peter I had meanwhile recovered and gained ground in Sweden's Baltic provinces. Charles XII moved from Saxony into Russia to confront Peter, merely the campaign concluded with the destruction of the principal Swedish army at the decisive 1709 Battle of Poltava (in nowadays-24-hour interval Ukraine), and Charles's exile in Ottoman Bough. After Poltava, the anti-Swedish coalition, which by that time had fallen apart twice, was re-established and subsequently joined past Hanover and Prussia. The remaining Swedish forces in plague-stricken areas due south and eastward of the Baltic Sea were evicted, with the terminal city, Riga, falling in 1710. Sweden proper was invaded from the westward past Kingdom of denmark–Norway and from the east by Russia, which had occupied Republic of finland past 1714. The Danish forces were defeated. Charles XII opened up a Norwegian front, only was killed in Fredriksten in 1718.

The war ended with Sweden'due south defeat, leaving Russia as the new ascendant power in the Baltic region and a major force in European politics. The formal conclusion of the war was marked past the Swedish–Hanoverian and Swedish–Prussian Treaties of Stockholm (1719), the Dano-Swedish Treaty of Frederiksborg (1720), and the Russo–Swedish Treaty of Nystad  (1721). In all of them, Sweden ceded some territories to its opponents. In Nystad, King Frederick I of Sweden formally recognized the transfer of Estonia, Livonia, Ingria, and Southeast Republic of finland to Russia, while Russia returned the majority of Finland to Sweden. As a result, Russian federation gained vast Baltic territories and became i of the greatest powers in Europe.

Signing of the Treaty of Nystad (1721) past Pieter Schenk (II)

Nystad manifested the decisive shift in the European balance of power that the Great Northern War had brought about: the Swedish regal era ended and Sweden entered the Age of Freedom, while Russian federation emerged every bit a new empire.

Polish/Lithuanian–Russian Relations

While during Peter's reign Russia did not formally wage wars with Poland–Lithuania, Peter fabricated the most of the internal chaos and ability struggles in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. After Poltava, the rule of Augustus 2 was restored thanks to the back up of Peter (Treaty of Thorn) and largely against the will of the Smoothen–Lithuanian nobility. Soon Augustus unsuccessfully wanted to end his participation in the Great Northern State of war and complimentary himself from his dependence on Peter. Attempts at peace with Sweden, which would strengthen Augustus'due south mitt in dealing with Peter, turned elusive. In the cease, Saxony-Commonwealth ended upwards as the only power in the victorious coalition with no territorial gains.

The Polish–Lithuania nobility resisted the Saxon rule and troops in Poland, which led to military resistance. However, the spreading motion, unable to fulfill its mission alone, requested arbitration by Peter I. Augustus agreed, and several months of negotiations facilitated by the Russian ambassador followed, with the fighting still intermittently taking place. Eventually Augustus asked for an intervention by Russian forces, the Smooth–Lithuanian nobles were defeated by the Saxons in 1716, and a treaty between the king and the Shine–Lithuanian dignity was signed in Warsaw. The Tsardom'southward mediation and supervision marked a turning point in the Polish/Lithuanian–Russian relations.

Augustus was yet able to largely free himself from Peter'south protectorate, but in return was excluded from the Treaty of Nystad negotiations. Russia took Livonia, a territory that had been historically contested past Sweden, Russian, and Poland–Lithuania, and the Republic no longer shared a border with Sweden. In real terms, Poland, as well Sweden, was the master victim of the war, because of the damage inflicted on its population, economy, caste of independence, ability to office politically, and potential for self-defense.

Peter's Domestic Reforms

Through his expansive domestic reforms, Peter the Great modernized Russia,  but he also centralized power in his hand, significantly curbing the influence of the noble elites and the Orthodox church.

Learning Objectives

Explicate Peter's domestic reforms and what he hoped to attain with each of them

Cardinal Takeaways

Key Points

• Peter the Smashing recognized the weaknesses of the Russian state and aspired to reform information technology following Western European models. Seeing the form of boyars every bit obstacles standing in the manner of Europeanization and reform, he introduced comprehensive changes into a relatively antiquated organisation of Russian administration.
• All the authoritative reforms, and particularly the introduction of the Table of Ranks, aimed to weaken the position of the onetime boyar class, but they besides moved Russia towards the authoritarian rule, where power was largely concentrated in the mitt of the head of the state.  The Orthodox church building did non accept Peter'south reforms, and Peter refused to take the power of the patriarch. While the tsar did not abandon Orthodoxy as the main ideological core of the land, he started a process of westernization of the clergy and secular control of the church.
• Peter established Leningrad in 1703. The city was built on the presumption that it would be the most westernized urban center of Russian federation. He moved the capital from Moscow to Saint Petersburg in 1712, and the city became the political and cultural center of Russia.
• While Peter died without naming a successor, his manipulations led to the decease of his only male heir and the crowning of his second wife, Catherine, the Empress. Catherine was the first adult female to rule Imperial Russian federation, opening the legal path for a century almost entirely dominated by women.

Key Terms

• boyars: Members of the highest rank of the feudal Bulgarian, Moscovian, Ruthenian (Ukraine and Belarus), Wallachian, and Moldavian
  aristocracies, second merely to the ruling princes (or tsars), from the 10th
  century to the 17th century.
• Saint Petersburg: Russia'southward 2nd-largest city after Moscow and an important Russian port on the Baltic Sea. Established by Peter the Peachy, between 1713–1728 and 1732–1918 it was the purple capital of Russian federation. Information technology remains the most westernized metropolis of Russia likewise as its cultural majuscule.
• Holy Synod: A congregation of Orthodox church leaders in Russian federation. Information technology was established by Peter the Dandy, Stefan Yavorsky, and Feofan Prokopovich in Jan 1721 to replace the Patriarchate of Moscow. It was abolished following the February Revolution of 1917 and replaced with a restored patriarchate under Tikhon of Moscow.
• Table of Ranks: A formal list of positions and ranks in the armed services, government, and court of Majestic Russia. Peter the Groovy introduced the arrangement in 1722 while engaged in a struggle with the existing hereditary nobility, or boyars. It was formally abolished in 1917 past the newly established Bolshevik government.
• Collegia: Government departments in Purple Russia established in 1717 by Peter the Great. The departments were housed in Petrograd.

Peter's Reforms of the Russia State

Unlike near of his predecessors, not only did Peter the Great recognize the weaknesses of the Russian land, which at the fourth dimension was profoundly influenced by the class of boyars (feudal elites), but also aspired to reform it post-obit Western European models. Seeing boyars equally obstacles
standing in the fashion of Europeanization and reform, Peter introduced changes into a relatively antiquated system of Russian assistants. In 1708, he established viii governorates and in 1711 the Governing Senate. All its members, originally x individuals, were appointed past the tsar. The senate did non interrupt the activeness and was the permanent operating state body. In 1713, Landrats (from the German word for "national council") were created in each of the governorates. They were staffed by professional civil servants, who assisted a royally-appointed governor. In 1719, after the institution of government departments known as the Collegia, Peter remade Russia'south administrative divisions again. The new provinces were modeled on the Swedish system, in which larger, more than politically of import areas received more political autonomy, while smaller, more than rural areas were controlled more than directly by the state.

Peter'due south distrust of the elitist and anti-reformist boyars culminated in 1722 with the creation of the Table of Ranks, a formal listing of ranks in the Russian military, government, and royal courtroom. The Tabular array of Ranks established a circuitous system of titles and honorifics, each classed with a number denoting a specific level of service or loyalty to the tsar. Previously, high-ranking state positions were hereditary, merely with the establishment of the Tabular array of Ranks, anyone, including a commoner, could work their way up the bureaucratic bureaucracy with sufficient difficult work and skill. While all these administrative reforms aimed to weaken the position of the erstwhile boyar class, they also moved Russia towards authoritarian rule, where power was largely concentrated in the hand of the head of the state.

Church Reforms

The Russian tsars traditionally exerted some influence on church building operations. Notwithstanding, until Peter's reforms, the church had been relatively gratis in its internal governance. Peter lost the support of the Russian clergy over his modernizing reforms as local hierarchs became very suspicious of his friendship with foreigners and his alleged Protestant propensities. The tsar did not abandon Orthodoxy as the main ideological core of the state, but attempted to start a process of westernization of the clergy, relying on those with a Western theological education. Simultaneously, Peter remained faithful to the canons of the Eastern Orthodox church. Inviting Ukrainian and Belorussian clergymen, more often than not graduates of the highly acclaimed westernized Kiev-Mohyla University, unintentionally led to the "Ukrainization" of the Russian church, and by the middle of the 18th century the bulk of the Russian Orthodox church was headed past people from Ukraine.

The traditional leader of the church building was the Patriarch of Moscow. In 1700, when the role fell vacant, Peter refused to name a replacement and created the position of the custodian of the patriarchal throne, which he controlled by appointing his own candidates. He could not tolerate the thought that a patriarch could have power superior to the tsar, as indeed had happened in the instance of Philaret (1619–1633) and Nikon (1652–1666). In 1721, he established the Holy Synod (originally the Ecclesiastical Higher), which replaced patriarchy altogether. It was administered by a lay director, or Ober-Procurator. The Synod changed in composition over time, but basically it remained a committee of churchmen headed by a lay appointee of the emperor. Furthermore,
a new ecclesiastic educational organization was begun under Peter. It aimed to amend the usually very poor education of local priests and monks. However, the curriculum was so westernized (emphasis on Latin language and subjects for the cost of limited exposure to Greek, the Eastern Church Fathers, and Russian and Slavonic church languages) that monks and priests, while beingness formally educated, received poor preparation in preparation for a ministry to a Russian-speaking population steeped in the traditions of Eastern Orthodoxy.

Saint Petersburg

In 1703, during the Cracking Northern War, Peter the Nifty established the Peter and Paul fortress on small Hare Isle, by the n bank of the Neva River. The fortress was the starting time brick and stone edifice of the new projected capital letter city of Russia and the original citadel of what would somewhen be Saint Petersburg. The city was built past conscripted peasants from all over Russia, and tens of thousands of serfs died building it. Peter moved the capital from Moscow to Saint petersburg in 1712, only referred to Petrograd as the upper-case letter (or seat of authorities) as early as 1704. Western European architects, most notably Swiss Italian Domenico Trezzini and French Jean-Baptiste Alexandre Le Blond, shaped the city in the initial stages of its construction. Such buildings equally the Menshikov Palace, Kunstkamera, Peter and Paul Cathedral, and Twelve Collegia became prominent architectural landmarks. In 1724, Peter also established the Academy of Sciences, the University, and the Academic Gymnasium. Saint Petersburg is even so the near Westernized city in and the cultural capital of Russia.

Collage of pictures from Saint Petersburg: Clockwise from peak left: Peter and Paul Fortress on Zayachy Isle, Smolny Cathedral, Bronze Horseman on Senate Square, the Winter Palace, Trinity Cathedral, and the Moyka river with the General Staff Building.

Succession

Peter had 2 wives, with whom he had fourteen children, just only three survived to adulthood. Upon his return from his European tour in 1698, he sought to stop his unhappy bundled marriage to Eudoxia Lopukhina. He divorced the tsaritsa and forced her into joining a convent. Only one child from the marriage, Tsarevich Alexei, survived past his childhood. In 1712, Peter formally married his long-time mistress, Martha Skavronskaya, who upon her conversion to the Russian Orthodox church building took the name Catherine.

Peter suspected his eldest child and heir, Alexei, of being involved in a plot to overthrow the emperor. Alexei was tried and confessed under torture during questioning conducted by a secular court. He was convicted and sentenced to be executed. The sentence could be carried out only with Peter's signed dominance, but Alexei died in prison, as Peter hesitated before making the decision. In 1724, Peter had his second wife, Catherine, crowned as empress, although he remained Russia's actual ruler. He died a year later without naming a successor. As Catherine represented the interests of the "new men," commoners who had been brought to positions of cracking power by Peter based on competence, a successful coup was bundled by her supporters in order to prevent the onetime elites from controlling the laws of succession. Catherine was the first woman to rule Imperial Russian federation (as empress), opening the legal path for a century nigh entirely dominated by women, including her girl Elizabeth and granddaughter-in-law Catherine the Great, all of whom continued Peter the Great's policies in modernizing Russia.

Catherine I of Russia by Jean-Marc Nattier (1716)

Catherine, Peter's second wife, was the offset woman to rule Purple Russian federation (as empress), opening the legal path for a century almost entirely dominated past women.

Source: https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-worldhistory/chapter/the-modernization-of-russia/

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