Peter the Great: Modernizing and Westernizing Russia

Throughout all of history, there has never been a man who influenced Russia as much as Tsar Peter I, also known as Peter the Great. Over the course of his rule over Russia, Peter the Great helped to bring a country with strong Eastern ties to those of the West. Particularly in regard to geography, Russia can be considered backwards as it is cut off from the warmer waters in western Europe. The country also began to Westernize as Peter I applied the commercial systems of other European countries to his own. In addition to exposing Russia to the West, Peter the great also expanded the military and modernized his governmental system. Mercantilism was also encouraged by Russia under Peter the Great, leading to both an increase in wealth and in

In addition, Russia was under the control of the East for nearly one quarter of a millennium, leading to tighter Eastern roots than Western. Detached from the growing Western society of Europe, Russia was only connected to the mainland via Archangel; influenced only slightly be international trade. Russia was highly immoral in the times before Peter the Great, where its “. . . Men wore beards and skirted garments that seemed exotic to Europeans. . . Customs were crude, wild drunkenness and revelry. . . (Palmer 213).” The country in the middle of the 16th century was socially detached from the Western culture of countries like France and England. Culturally, the Russian people used ancient devices such as Roman numerals, and a different alphabet from most Westernized countries at the time. It was apparent that although Russia was technically attached to the rest of Europe, its culture was very unlike the established norms of a typical Europeanized country. Throughout his entire rule, Peter the Great would work to undo any Asian influence on Russia; at the same time transforming it into a Western