Modernization of Russia Under Peter I and Catherine II by Basil Dmytryshyn

Peter I the Great (1682-1725) and Catherine II the Great (1762-1796) are regarded as two great Czars (emperors) of Russia. They modernized Russia and made it as modern and powerful as any European power.

"Before his time the Court of Russia had very strong Byzantine-Oriental features. In outward appearance the tsar resembled a composite of a Chinese emperor, a Persian shah, and a Byzantine patriarch. Because of his close association with the Orthodox Church, life at Court was both religious and mysterious."

"Peter I changed all that. He moved the Court from Moscow to Petersburg (which he had ordered to be built), donned a military uniform, supplanted religious advisors with military men, and replaced religious ceremonies with concerts, masquerades, dances, hunting parties, fireworks displays, theater, and other worldly entertainments."

"During their reigns Peter I and Catherine II introduced many important innovations that modernized the life-style of the Court and of the nobility, the organization of the armed forces and of the state administrative apparatus, the conduct of diplomacy, education, and similar areas of activity.

Thanks to these innovations, in the course of the eighteenth century Russia acquired a firm foundation for its transformation from a relatively weak and backward country into a mighty, modern nation of Europe."

This short book is about this transformation of Russia to a modern State in the 1700's.

Modernizing the military

"Before Peter I's time the Russian army might best be described as a massive human wave. It had incompetent leadership and was equipped with diverse and obsolete weapons. It won victories not as a result of skilled tactics or strategy but by mass assaults, regardless of the human cost. With the aid of foreign specialists Peter I gave the Russian army new organization, new uniforms, new standardized weapons, and a new purpose."

"The new army became a regular army, trained and led by educated professional soldiers. Its effectiveness was tested at the battle of Poltava (1709), and it soon acquired fame for endurance, discipline, determination, and bravery. "

Modernizing diplomacy

"Another vital field that underwent drastic modernization was diplomacy. Russia had long been a large, resourceful, and populous state, but because of her isolation she exerted little influence on European affairs prior to Peter I's reign. Her ambassadors were awkward and unfamiliar with customs and European languages, and their appearance and behavior were often a source of amusement and disbelief. "

How did the Czars modernize Russia

"In some instances he himself set the necessary example; in others he resorted to terror; in still others he tried persuasion and rewards; and throughout his reign he extensively employed administrative decrees. Decrees seem to have been the most lasting of these methods since they outlived him, his terror, and his rewards. "

The author gives several examples of decrees (orders) that Czar gave.
Decree to use Julian calendar
Decree to establish secular schools
Decree to send young Russians abroad to study Navigation (important for a growing naval power)
Decree to collect and preserve historical material and books
Decree to join and accept membership of Royal French Academy
Decree to create Russian Academy of learned people in all fields
Decree that no young couple be married unless they have met and spent time together for at least six weeks before getting married


"He neglected to pay sufficient attention to the passive resistance of the masses. A reforming zeal and a faith in autocracy were Peter's two hands; unfortunately one hand paralysed the energy of the other. "

Driving force

The Czars realized that Russia needed to modernize otherwise it will be a weak and poor region. It will fall behind economically. It will be easily conquered as it won't have the technology or skills to use it.

"The reforms were influenced not only by Peter's personality, but by wars and internecine struggles."

Uneven modernization

The authors state that the modernization was uneven. The areas close to Czar were modernized but other areas were left untouched by modernization.

"The list of such contradictions is very long and shows that the modernizing efforts of Peter I and Catherine I were narrow, uneven, and imbalanced, with the result that at the end of the eighteenth century Imperial Russia was a mixture of clashing contrasts. "

"It had good schools for a privileged few, but illiteracy was the way of life for the overwhelming majority. It had a small class of cultured nobles who lived in sumptuous villas, who wore modern clothing, who discussed the latest ideas of Western Europe, and who were fluent in French, German, and English, but it also had millions of illiterate and superstitious peasants who lived in the most horrible filth and poverty. This paradox troubled contemporaries as well as historians and has given rise to many conflicting interpretations of the reigns of Peter I and Catherine II."


"The reforms were brought on by the essential requirements of state and people; the need for reform was understood by an authoritative, intelligent, energetic, and talented individual, one of those who, for no apparent reason, appear from time to time.

Further, he was gifted, and, animated by a sense of duty, was resolved 'not to spare his life in the service of his country. When Peter came to the throne, Russia was not in an advantageous position compared with other European countries.

Towards the end of the sixteenth century the Russians had created a great state, which was one of the largest in Europe; in the seventeenth century, however, it began to fail in moral and material strength.

Peter's reforms did not aim directly at changing the political, social, or moral order, nor did they aim at forcing Russian life into an alien Western European pattern. The reforms only aimed at providing the Russian State and people with Western European intellectual and material resources, so that Russia might take its just position in Europe, and its people increase their productive capacity.

But Peter had to do all this in a hurry, in the middle of a dangerous and bitter war, by using constraint at home; he had to struggle with the rapacity of his rascally officials, a gross landed nobility, and the prejudices and fears instilled by an ignorant clergy. "




Tweet

Related articles

The New Silk Roads: The New Asia and the Remaking of the World Order by Peter Frankopan

Empires of the Weak: The Real Story of European Expansion and the Creation of the New World Order

External Links