During the late 1600s to the early 1700s, Peter the Great ruled Russia with his ideas on westernizing Russia. With his trip to Western Europe, he was enchanted with the culture and decided to enforce it upon the citizens. His efforts to instill the culture among the people was eventually loved by some people, but was mostly hated among the majority of the citizens. His attempt to westernize Russia led to major revolts and cultural gap between the elite and the mass of Russian people. The quote “Peter dragged Russia, kicking and screaming into modernity,” is true because majority of the people were refusing to follow them. In a pursuit to westernize the Russians, Peter the Great introduced new ideas in order to persuade the citizen. Due to the underdeveloped technology, Peter wanted to equip Russia with modern technology and institutions. He was considered as a “trailblazer” by imposing his ideas for the very first time. The first thing he had emphasize the reorganization of the army and the establishment of the navy.
He had also reconstructed the central government by introducing the senate to oversee the country while he was away on military campaigns. In 1722, Peter introduced the table of ranks, which determined a person’s social status. This was an opportunity for non-nobles to serve in the state. The attempt made by Peter was eventually never to be used again since it was based on merit. To continue his plans for the army he needed to get a huge amount of money for his plan, he used the Western mercantile system. Thus, he levied taxes which became a burden to majority of the public in order to meet the endless needs of the army. Since the Orthodox church became part in the country’s structure, Peter wanted to gain control of the church so in 1721 he abolished the patriarch and replaced it with a new body called the Holy Synod to make decisions for the church.
The Essay on Absolute Monarchs Peter Phillip People
Throughout European history, absolute monarchy has been seen in many nations as an effective form of government. Complete control over a state and its people enabled rulers of the time to accomplish much by expanding lands, strengthening the economy, and often improving the lives of the common people. Phillip II of Spain and Peter the Great of Russia are two rulers who exemplify this theory. ...
With his ideas being compelled by the people a huge cultural rift was seen between the rich and the poor since, he enforced many laws in which only the wealthy could afford. This created a huge controversies and revolts such as the Pugachev revolt when the government demands increase and the people can not adjust to it. As a result, with Peter’s desire with the people of Russia becoming more westernized did not allow the greater part of the population to benefit simply for reasons such as financial issues. The quote “Peter dragged Russia, kicking and screaming into modernity,” was true because what he had really did was to just enforce the law when clearly his ideas were more suited for the aristocrats instead of the majority of the public who believed that they should stick to their regular traditions. His desire led to chaos and mayhem of the country.
