1. What do these decrees reveal about Peter the Great's motives for his reforms? 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. 2. What can be learned from these decrees about Russian social relationships and the state of the Russian economy? Through these decrees we see how Russian social class is very stratified and there are more high official roles but more people in poverty. Russia still had to serfs until 1861. Also the state of the Russian economy was probably very limited to do the fact that there was no manufacturing company to provide for the empire. The Russian economy was very isolated and they go to areas where they can trade. With Russia’s subsistence economy, they were not able to specialize in other areas. 3. Why do you think Peter believed it was necessary for Russians to change their dress, shaving habits, and calendar? Peter might have believed it was necessary to change their dress and calendars in order to create relations with Europe. Also by making these reforms, he would have shown himself as an enlightened monarch who has great knowledge of European thinking. Through this “imitation” of Europe, European nations like Italy, France, Germany, and other nat... ... middle of paper ... ... be set at fair prices and therefore successful trading. Also, through commercialization, the Japanese were able to expand on their own lives and embellish their lives more. 4. What perspectives does the source offer concerning the merchant's place in Japanese society, in particular the relationship of merchants to the daimyo and samurai? When a merchant deals with the daimyo, they will need to hear demands from the daimyo because of social ranking and therefore in the longtime their earnings from their deal with the daimyo will hurt the merchant. The daimyos like to deal with the merchants but not vice versa. Merchants were always asked by the daimyos and the daimyos would never pay them back. It is risky behavior. However with the samurai, each party equally gets a good deal because of samurai honor code. Merchants were under the position of daimyo and samurai.
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.
Moss, W., 2014. A History of Russia Volume 2: Since 1855. 1st ed. London, England: Anthem Press London, pp.112-113.
Russia's industries were beginning to develop and the number of people living in towns was increasing. These people were the urban working class of Russia and they were not as eager to accept the poor wages and conditions as the peasants were.
Russia, industrialized as a result of many peasant revolts. The revolts led to the emancipation of the serfs in 1861, they received land but the political chains were still in place. Many reforms were still needed. The military became based on merit, education was increased, transportation became more efficient with the introduction or railroads, and law codes were improved with local councils put in place called zemstvoes. These reforms and the great size and natural resources of Russia allowed it to build factories. Yet, the change experienced by the West had not, yet, occurred.
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”
Within a short period of time, Japan had caught up with many Western technologies; having established universities, founded telegraph and railroad lines, as well as a national postal system being created. Shipping and textile industries were a huge success an exports rose.
...d from the samurai ethic and now are very important to success in business' in Japan.
Peter the Great, the most influential czar and military leader in Russian history, transformed his country from an almost medieval backwater region into one of the world's great powers at the beginning of the eighteenth century. Peter combined Western ideas with Russian tradition to modernize his country and to create a powerful army and navy. Born the only child of Czar Alexis and his second wife, Natalya Naryshkin, on June 9, 1672, in Moscow, Peter struggled with his half brothers and sisters for power after the czar's death. In 1689, following a series of political and military movements, Peter, at age seventeen, became the sole Russian authority. While celebrated mostly for his "Westernization" of Russia, Peter put most of his energy into achievements that related directly to the military and warfare. His reign of more than thirty-five years saw peace prevail for only a single year. During his first decade of rule, Peter grew from a gangly teenager into a formidable, robust figure at six and a half feet tall - a physical -development prelude of the growth and presence he would bring to Russia. Possessing a keen interest in military history and theories, Peter established two personal guard regiments to experiment with drills and to develop war games, enabling him to better understand his studies. The young Peter realized that land power alone could not establish Russian military might, and so he began an upgrade of his navy. In 1696, Peter, at only twenty-four years of age, launched an offensive against the Turks at Azov. That victory provided Russia access to the Black Sea. Despite this success, Peter knew that neither his armed forces nor his country as a whole compared favorable with the other European powers. Having assumed the throne of a country that had missed both the Renaissance and the Reformation, which left it nearly a century behind the rest of Europe in cultural and scientific developments, Peter was determined to understand how and why the Russians lagged behind their neighbors.In 1697-98, Peter traveled throughout Europe under a pseudonym and without his courtly trappings. He studied shipbuilding in Holland and England and observed gunnery practice in Prussia. Along the way he visited military and civilian schools, factories, and museums as well as military arsenals and installations. When Peter returned to Russia, he brought along Western educators, businessmen, and military personnel to serve as advisers.
Prior to World War One, Russia lost their naval port, Vladivostok, to the Japanese during the Russian Japanese war; putting a huge strain on the already struggling government. During this time, Nicholas II ruled as a Czar of Russia. During his reign, Russia’s rich prevailed greatly, while the poor starved and went to war. The rich believed “The people have the need for potatoes but not for the least of the constitution” they stood strong in the belief that the illiterate agriculturalists should have no say in their government, but also strongly considered that “Russia could not be ruled effectively unless the tsar took at least a part of the nation into partnership.” In 1904, the prices of basic good increased, while the real wages declined a little over twenty percent. Within the...
Absolutists during the 16th and 17th centuries were often times focused too heavily on military or other such rather than the people they were ruling. Peter the Great is a good example of this type of ruler because he did great things for Russia like improving the navy; however, Peter the Great did nothing to help the people of Russia, and according to Michael Gibson in document 8, he "failed to create the large, thriving
...that used latest of technology. They made Japan a major trade area so they could have access to other goods.
Showed their high standards and respect for others which has contributed to many successes in Japan.
By observing the Russian colossus; European nations were anxious. Russia was the largest and most populated European nations in 1815. Soldier, explores and traders expanded Russia beyond Siberia. Russia had a rigid social structure, nobles dominated the Russian society and rejected any kind of changes. The domination of noble made the middle class weaker. Most of the people were peasants or serfs. But I knew, in Russia, their system of government was wrong and things had to change. Serfs or peasants shouldn’t need to look elsewhere to making living after emancipation. Alexander II created zemstvos; responsible for road repairs schools and agriculture also introduced great legal reforms, but his ideas didn’t made him popular or influenced anyone.
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.
Catherine the Great was born into the royal German house of Anhalt-Zerbst. She was selected by the Russian Empress Elisabeth to be the wife of the Russian prince Grand Duke Peter at the tender age of fourteen. Peter and Catherine were both German, and they were also cousins. Peter and Catherine were always at each others throats, and often had affairs with secret lovers. Catherine gave up her German name and religious beliefs, and began to take on everything Russian. After the death of Empress Elisabeth, Peter claimed the throne. Peter loved his German roots, and hated the Russian way of life. Peter began to abuse his power, doing everything he could to influence his German roots in Russia. He removed Russian icons from the church. This caused the uprising of a military revolt. Among the people who planned to take over Peter was Catherines lover, Grigory Orlov. She made sure to place herself at the front of this rebellion, and crowned herself empress.