Russia has always been a country of deeply ingrained tradition and orthodoxy. While many countries in Europe changed over time with the advances of science and technology, Russia has remained behind the rest of the continent for most of history. Russia was always less advanced than Western Europe because of its isolationist policies and the xenophobic attitudes of its rulers. This resistance to change caused Russia a lot of problems over time. While most Russian rulers maintained the state’s isolationist policies, Russia also saw several rulers who looked westward and attempted to modernize their country up to the standards of the rest of Europe. These leaders attempted to improve their country with a series of reforms in an effort called westernization. …show more content…
First, Catherine made social reforms. She endeavored during her rule to continue Peter the Great’s effort to bring the culture Western Europe to Russia. In order to do this, she brought Western architects, sculptors, musicians, and scholars to live and work in Russia. She also was a major benefactor of the arts, buying Western art and patronizing artists (McKay et al. 512). In this way, Catherine integrated Western European thought and culture into Russian society. Catherine the Great also made changes to help develop Russia’s economy. In 1765 she founded the Free Economic Society to promote the modernization of agriculture and industry. She also convinced foreign countries to invest in economically underdeveloped areas of Russia. Using these methods, the lagging economy of Russia slowly began to grow. Finally, Catherine made substantial progress in military reforms with the resumption of Russia’s territorial expansion. She was extremely successful in this area, gaining huge tracts of land and winning two wars against the Ottoman Empire (Rivera and Dasne). Catherine also won many victories against the Turks and gained land in deals made with Prussia to maintain the balance of power (McKay et al. 512). Through territorial expansion, Catherine the Great asserted Russia’s power as a dominant military …show more content…
Peter the Great was successful in beginning the process of westernization. He was also successful in preparing Russia for becoming a central power in European affairs in the coming centuries by constructing a powerful standing army. He was not as successful in bringing western culture and traditions to Russia as most of his people opposed his changes. Catherine the Great was successful in almost all of her endeavors as she effectively brought a lot of Western influence into Russia’s culture, revitalized Russia’s economy, and also expanded Russia’s borders. From these results, it can be said that Catherine the Great not only achieved Peter the Great’s goal of pushing Russia into the modern world, but also established it as one of the most prominent countries in
Historically, Russia has always been a country of perplexing dualities. The reality of Dual Russia, the separation of the official culture from that of the common people, persisted after the Revolution of 1917 and the Civil War. The Czarist Russia was at once modernized and backward: St. Petersburg and Moscow stood as the highly developed industrial centers of the country and two of the capitals of Europe, yet the overwhelming majority of the population were subsistent farms who lived on mir; French was the official language and the elites were highly literate, yet 82% of the populati...
I believe that there was so much attention given to Peter the Great because of his extensive reforms. Peter brought both social and economic changes to his country. He wanted to make Russia big. Peter transformed the culture; he wanted his people to wear the western European fashion. Many of the people were not thrilled with the change because they did not like the ways of the western European societies. He made his navy stronger, he reformed his army to meet the western standards, and he gained control over the church.
In conclusion, though the goals and outcomes were different in many ways, Louis XIV and Peter the Great both sought to do great things. Louis XIV died unpopular in his country, having had the spotlight on him for years in Europe. He hadn’t made the huge leaps that he had hoped as far as land goes, but he had made small gains of land, and had gained the crown for his grandson, Phillip V of Spain. He also built fortresses around the country and reshaped the French economy. Peter the Great succeeded in modernizing and westernizing Russia. By his death, Russia was considered much more of a leading state in Europe than ever before. He modernized the army, created a navy, and succeeded in centralizing the government.
When recognised as being an ageing superpower by Alexander II it was inevitable that some sort of change would take place in Russia in the hope of modernisation. We can see that the changes were mostly political and economical. During Alexander III’s reign we can see that the changes were suppressive although it ultimately led to further change in the form of revolution in the future.
Catherine the Great, one of Russia's most notorious leaders, never once struggled to give Russia the edge it so hoped for. She considered herself to be an enlightened leader and attempted to rule in that fashion. Her reforms transformed Russia into a strong nation for their time. She’s remembered as the greatest reformer of Russia, she continued to westernize Russia, widened the borders, and strengthened the education system. Catherine the Great proceeded to finish what Peter the Great started; she made sure that by the end of her reign Russia was westernized.
Catherine was born in 1729 to a German prince and princess. She moved to Russia well before her husband’s, Peter III, reign. During the time before his reign she learned all about the Russian language and customs, even converting to Orthodoxy. Catherine started her spirited and enlightened reign in 1762. In an effort to help make a more absolute government, Catherine wished to rework Russia’s law code, which had not been changed since 1649. In July of 1767 she brought together the Legislative Commission. This was a body of elected deputies for her to consult with about her Instruction, or Nakaz. The Legislative Commission consisted of nobles, merchants and
It was due to its great resources and population that Russia was able to compete with the other world powers in war and in commerce. Russia did not have the succession of leaders that supported industrialization like Japan did. Therefore, Russia, with Alexander II as czar, made few reforms to encourage industrialization. It was only through the multiple peasant revolts that Russia began to change. Both of these nations experienced changes in government, an increase in economic strength and transportation, and radical changes in the structure of the social classes.
Catherine II was motivated by the ideals of enlightened absolutism because she read the works of enlightenment writers and believed that certain reforms would ensure the well-being of her subjects. Catherine’s first major reform involved Russia’s legal system, which was based on the inefficient Code of Laws. Catherine's legal reform was documented to be the ideal government for Russia. The Empress called for a progressive legal system which focused on granting equal protection under law to all persons and emphasizing prevention of criminal acts rather than the imposing of harsh punishment. Catherine also reformed domestic matters after a series of threatening events. For security reasons, she reorganized provincial administration to favor the nobility. Catherine even reformed educational facilities by increasing the number of elementary and secondary schools. She also gave attention to the arts and science, making St. Petersburg one of the most cultural place in Europe during her reign. The reforms that were influenced by enlightened absolutism were appealing to Catherine II because it would bring peace and stability to Russia and its people. This made her favorable among her people, thus making her more
While most of Europe had develop strong central governments and weakened the power of the nobles, Russia had lagged behind the times and still had serfs as late as 1861. The economic development that followed the emancipation of peasants in the rest of Europe created strong industrial and tax bases in those nations. Russian monarchs had attempted some level of reforms to address this inequality for almost a century before, and were indeed on their way to “economic maturity” (32) on par with the rest of Europe. But they overextended themselves and the crushing defeats of the Russo-Japanese War in 1905 and the First World War in 1917 lost them the necessary support from their subjects and created “high prices and scarcity” which were by far “the most obvious factors in the general tension”
Peter the Great, was, as his name implies, “great”. He made many accomplishments during his lifetime including expanding Russia’s land, heightening their military, and improving the Russian’s ways of life overall. He assisted with most of the reform in Russia, helped them defeat other countries, and formulated one of the strongest armies in Europe.
In the length of Peter’s reign, only one year was spent in peace when Russia was not at war (Ria p. 251). Starting with the war with Turkey in 1695, Peter would wage war against Sweden, Poland, or the Ottoman Empire throughout the era. Peter’s foreign policies were ambitious: he endeavoured to regain territories that were thought to be historically Russian such as the Baltic States, Poland, and Ukraine; sought access to international waterways; and aimed t...
Peter the Great was trying ultimately to make the Russian Empire more Europeanized or Westernized. He wanted to protect and enhance the vulnerable Russian Empire. Peter the Great saw that other European countries are colonizing in other regions like the New World, Asia, and Africa. Peter saw this as a threat and didn’t want for the Europeans to conquer Russia. Through decrees to shave and provisions on dress, he was trying to make them European. He also wanted to make military and economic reforms that could help the empire itself. If they built factories, they didn’t need to get supplies from Europe.
Peter the Great, the Russian Czar, inherited his absolutist power from his brother, Ivan V. Born in aristocracy, Peter’s dad was the Czar, and later his brother, and after his brother’s death, him. He was a firm believer in the possible benefits from the control of a single leader to make decisions for the people, and he exercised this divine right to create many renouned institutions. At the beginning of Peter’s reign, Russia was in a poor condition: many rejected modernization from the Renaissance, and large spending from his brother’s reign caused economic droughts. He took advantage of his absolutist power to help ameliorate Russia’s situation and first decided to minimalize power from the other aristocrats. The subduction of the rich allowed
Peter the Great was the czar of Russia between 1682 and 1725. He began to influence Russia’s development almost immediately after becoming czar and transformed Russia from an isolated agricultural society into an Empire on a par with European powers. Under his reign, existed a period of significant reforms, because of their major effects, which were constructive, useful and beneficial to his country. Peter’s reforms, especially, in the area of education, revealed his actions as pertaining to the characteristics of a reformer. The modernization of Russia was mostly based on Europeanization, which brought elements from Europe into Russia.
Russia had been defeated in all except the war with Turkey and its government and economy had the scars to prove it. A severe lack of food and poor living conditions amongst the peasant population led firstly to strikes and quickly escalated to violent riots. Tsar Nicholas II ruled Russia with an iron hand while much of Europe was moving away from the monarchical system of rule. All lands were owned by the Tsar’s family and Nobel land lords, while the factories and industrial complexes were owned by the capitalists’. There were no unions or labour laws and the justice system had made almost all other laws in favour of the ruling elite.