Peter the Great modernized Russia through extensive reforms modeled after Western Europe. He consolidated his power over the Russian Orthodox Church and nobility. Peter's major goal was westernizing Russia through social, political, and educational reforms. This included adopting Western dress, replacing the Julian calendar with the Gregorian calendar, and establishing Saint Petersburg as a "window to Europe." Peter's reforms strengthened Russia militarily and economically but also deepened social inequalities, with the nobility retaining privileges while serfdom increased hardship for peasants.

1. PETER THE
GREAT OF
RUSSIA

2. PETERTHEGREAT
• Born in 1672 ( 9 June ) –
1725 (8 February) , aged 52
• Began almost immediately to
consolidate power and to
increase his power
• The Russian Church and the
nobles, called Boyars, were
two prime targets
• Major goal was the
westernization of Russia
Portrait of Peter I by Godfrey Kneller, 1698.
This portrait was Peter's gift to the King of
England.

3. Monument to Peter the Great in St.
Petersburg
Statue of Peter in Rotterdam The 1782 statue of Peter I in Saint Petersburg, informally known as the Bronze
Horseman

4. Russia Before Peter
the Great
• Medley of peoples who spoke a Slavic
language– Difficult to unify
• In spite of geographic location, the
Russians were focusing their attention to
the east, and not on Europe to the west
• Russians inhabited the land from the edge
of the modern Baltic states to the pacific
ocean
• Russia lacked a warm-water or an ice-free
port which hindered trade and
communication with Europe

5. Reasons Russia Needed
to be Westernized
• Russia was Eastern Orthodox Christian, Not
Roman Catholic
– Influence was Greek (eastern), not Latin
(western)
– Different alphabet (Cyrillic)
– Different culture, customs etc.
– Eastern Church did not promote charity or
education like the Western Church and had
little time for humanity
– Church was very superstitious & opposed
learning as “a spiritual sin”
– Without Church promotion of learning even
basic arithmetic was hardly understood

6. • Mongol influence of about 250 years:
– Women wore veils; men wore long
flowing robes and beards
– Customs were crude & brutality was
prevalent– “Life was cheap”
– Russia developed the idea of strong
man rule which would last into the
20th century
– Attention was focused to the east and
Asia
• Geography prevented effective trade
and exchange of ideas with the rest of
Europe
– Russia was not ready or able to
receive the Renaissance and missed
out
– The need for a warm-water port or
ice-free port was becoming even
greater as time went on

8. Westernization &
Modernization
• Peter needed to use European
civilization to create a stronger
Russian army that could stand up
to the West as well as to obtain
his “window on the West”
– Needed to defend against the
Poles, Turks, & Swedes
– Needed access to Black Sea as
well as access to the Baltic Sea

9. • Unlike Western Europe, serfdom
still existed in Russia and was
very widespread
– Serfs could be bought and
sold like slaves
– Serfs could even be killed
without punishment for the
killer!!
– Without the free movement
of people, the nation could
not become more urbanized
and then industrialized

10. Peter And Western
Europe
• Peter I visits to the West impressed upon him the notion
that European customs were in several respects
superior to Russian traditions.
• Heavily influenced by his advisers from Western
Europe, he reorganized the Russian army along modern
lines and dreamed of making Russia a maritime power.
• He also commanded all of his courtiers and officials to
wear European clothing and cut off their long beards,
causing great 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.

11. • Peter also introduced critical social reform. He sought to end
arranged marriages, which were the norm among 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 creation of
the world, but after Peter’s reforms, they were to be counted from the
birth of Christ. Thus, in the year 7207 of the old Russian calendar,
Peter proclaimed that the Julian Calendar was in effect and the year
was 1700.

12. • In his effort to modernize Russia, the largest state in the world, but one that was economically and
socially lagging, Peter introduced autocracy 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 customs
were in several respects superior to Russian traditions.
• Heavily influenced by his advisers from Western Europe, he reorganized the Russian army along modern
lines and dreamed of making Russia a maritime power.
• His social reforms included the requirement of Western fashion in his court (including facial hair for men),
attempts to end arranged marriages, and the introduction of the Julian Calendar in 1700.
• One of Peter’s most audacious goals was reducing the influence of the boyars, or the feudal elite class.
He did this by imposing taxes and services on them as well as introducing comprehensive administrative
reforms that opened civil service to commoners. However, sharp class divisions, including the already
tragic fate of serfs, only deepened.
• Tax and trade reforms enabled the Russian state to expand its treasury almost sixfold between 1680 and
1724.
• Legislation under Peter’s rule covered every aspect of life in Russia, and his reform contributed greatly to
Russia’s military successes and the increase in revenue and productivity. Overall, Peter created a state
that further legitimized and strengthened authoritarian rule in Russia.

13. HOW DID WESTERNISATION IMPACT RUSSIA ?

14. Peter’s Reforms
• Peter had an inquisitive mind and began to
study things like sailing with foreigners living in
Moscow
• In 1697 Peter began his year-long “Grand
Embassy” to Western Europe to learn as much
as he could so he could strengthen Russia and
her army
• The Grand Embassy took Peter to Holland,
Venice & England
– He visited almost every factory, museum &
printing press he could to find out how
Russia could do the same things
– Peter hired hundreds of technicians to
work in Russia to help strengthen Russia

15. • Peter made the following changes to Russia once he
returned to Russia:
– The Russian Church, which had opposed all learning
and change came under Peter’s direct control
– All non-serfs were required to serve the state in the
government or in the military and nobility did not
guarantee any high positions
• Peter created a professional army that was drilled by
European soldiers with European weapons
• Taxes were raised to pay for the army and taxes were put
on items such as beards, land, inns, mills, leather, coffins,
meat & the right to marry

16. • Encouraged industrialization and provided government money for companies to start
making products the army needed
– Eastern fashions were prohibited and men could not wear beards
– A newspaper was created which helped to increase literacy and exchange ideas
– Russians were sent abroad to study
– A book of etiquette was published that encouraged Russians not to spit on the floor,
scratch themselves or to wear hats indoors
– Peter built his new capital, St. Petersburg, on Swedish lands on the Baltic Sea and forced
nobles to move there
– His new capital provided the ice-free port that Russia had desired for so long

17. Results of Westernization
Peter’s own son and heir to the throne was tortured and executed for opposing Peter’s changes
The peasant stayed outside looking in while the nobility continued to enjoy a privileged life– this
gap between classes would have dire consequences for Russia’s future

18. "In case you act in the same
way in the future, you may lose
your life"
- Peter the great

19. REFERENCE
• Evaluation Of Peter The Greats Westernization Of Russia
(ukessays.com)
• Peter the Great – Wikipedia
• Essay: Peter the Great's Westernization of Russia (onlineessays.com)
• Biography of Peter the Great of Russia (saint-petersburg.com)
• Peter I | Biography, Accomplishments, Reforms, Facts, Significance, &
Death | Britannica