1682-1725
Until the 1700s Russia was still way behind the rest of Europe. Tsar Peter I (the Great) literally dragged the country out of the Middle Ages. His reforms made Russia an international player for the first time.
“Peter the Great” by Valentin Serov (1907)
Background
Peter wanted to change Russia’s backwardness. His goal was a technically advanced Russia, and for that he turned his eyes to the West.
Great Northern War
In order to open up the “window to the West”, Peter needed access to ports to participate in international trade and a navy to protect them. After extensive ship-building and industrialization Russia broke Sweden’s domination of the Baltic Sea in the Great Northern War.
Reforms
Apart from military industry Peter also revolutionized Russian society. He made Russian nobility look and act like Europeans.
He made a universal Table of Ranks that let anyone rise on a social ladder. The Boyar Duma was replaced by the Senate of his inner circle. They introduced new taxes and subdued the church under the state. The first universities, hospitals, and museums were introduced.
In 1703 Peter started the construction of his new capital St. Petersburg. According to a legend, it was planned in the middle of a swamp near the Baltic Sea. The construction was undertaken by peasants, who emptied the swamp with their bare hands and took tens of thousands of lives. The “city was built on bones”.
Russia Under Peter the Great
1682-1725
Until the 1700s Russia was still way behind the rest of Europe. Tsar Peter I (the Great) literally dragged the country out of the Middle Ages. His reforms made Russia an international player for the first time.
“Peter the Great” by Valentin Serov (1907)
Background
Peter wanted to change Russia’s backwardness. His goal was a technically advanced Russia, and for that he turned his eyes to the West.
Great Northern War
In order to open up the “window to the West”, Peter needed access to ports to participate in international trade and a navy to protect them. After extensive ship-building and industrialization Russia broke Sweden’s domination of the Baltic Sea in the Great Northern War.
Reforms
Apart from military industry Peter also revolutionized Russian society. He made Russian nobility look and act like Europeans.
He made a universal Table of Ranks that let anyone rise on a social ladder. The Boyar Duma was replaced by the Senate of his inner circle. They introduced new taxes and subdued the church under the state. The first universities, hospitals, and museums were introduced.
In 1703 Peter started the construction of his new capital St. Petersburg. According to a legend, it was planned in the middle of a swamp near the Baltic Sea. The construction was undertaken by peasants, who emptied the swamp with their bare hands and took tens of thousands of lives. The “city was built on bones”.
Peter the Great