Change under Peter Flashcards
Church
- Abolished the Patriarchate via the 1721 Ecclesiastical Regulation and it was replaced with the Most Holy All-Ruling Synod (Peter reduced the Church’s power and made it essentially a branch of government)
- 1701, Peter estabilished the Monastery Prikaz. This gave the state control of Church finances, which meant all surplus was directed to charity or to the state - used to fund war effort
- Peter does not replace the Patriarch when Adrian dies in 1700 - removes figurehead of the Church and a possible source of opposition
Army
Change 1:
Before Peter Russia had no unified systematic recruiting mechanism. Nevertheless, early in 1705 a decree, in which the word ‘recruit’ appears for the first time, established the system upon which Peter was in the main to rely for the rest of his reign. A young man between fifteen and twenty years old, healthy and ft for service, was to be provided by each twenty peasant households. This levy, together with another at the same rate in December 1705, produced in that year close to 45,000 men
Change 2:
Russia thus provided the manpower for a really formidable army. To produce well-trained officers was much more difficult. One of the traditional method of overcoming shortages of this kind, at least as far as the higher ranks were concerned, was recruitment from abroad. But this had serious limitations. Foreign officers were often unpopular with the men they commanded and sometimes afraid of them. They were often of mediocre quality; few of them, after all, would have come to Russia in the first place had they been able to make satisfactory careers for themselves in their own countries or at least somewhere in western or central Europe. The rapid raising of new forces in 1699-1700 showed up a crippling shortage of middle-ranking officers and subalterns and to a lesser extent of NCOs. Throughout Peter’s reign, the quality of its officers was a weak point of the Russian army. Nevertheless much was achieved. This is most obvious in the rapidly declining importance of foreigners. In 1706 foreign officers entering Russian service ceased to be promoted automatically to a higher rank than they already held, while there was a growing readiness to get rid of those proved incompetent. By 1721 the War College could order that henceforth in the artillery only Russians should be promoted to officer rank; this is an illustration of how much Peter had achieved in making Russia not merely a great but a self-sufficient military power.
Not change:
Russia had undertaken huge recruitment efforts in the past, for example between 1654-57, over 100,000 men had been recruited for the war with Poland
Economy/industry
- Fuelled by the disaster of Narva (1700) when Peter’s army was defeated by a much smaller Swedish army (12,000 men lost) - Changes for war
- 7 new ironworks in the Urals, 52 new foundries and the expansion of old ones (1701-04). By 1716 Russia was a net exporter of iron - by middle of the century had become world’s largest exporter
- Roads and transport were another significant growth area. Improvement in the Russian transport network was one of Peter’s highest priorities. The 450 miles of the Moscow-Pskov road were improved and supplied by peasants doing carting services, as were the Kharkov and Smolensk roads
- 1719, Mines and Manufacturing College established to supervise mining works and produce artillery; taking active steps to change way in which industry operated, and increased efficiency
- 1719 Charter made it clear that Russian mines belonged to the Tsar, 1/10 of all profits must come back to the state, undermining any economic changes and preventing emergence of middle class
Navy
Change 1:
The achievement of a territorial outlet to the Baltic in 1703 opened new possibilities which were at once grasped. Naval shipbuilding on an unprecedented scale, first on the river Svir and them, from 1705 onwards, in the great new Admiralty yard in St Petersburg, rapidly gave Russia a powerful Baltic squadron for use against the Swedes.
Change 2:
Whereas the two departments mainly concerned (Admiralty Prikaz and Navy Department) had spent less than 81,000 roubles on the navy in 1701, they expended almost 204,000 in 1706. By 1715 over 700,000 roubles were being spent in this way, and by 1724 1,200,000 . When Peter died, the Baltic squadron mustered, apart from smaller vessels and those under construction, thirty-four ships of the line and fifteen frigates, manned by 28,000 men. This made Russia a decisively greater naval power than either Sweden or Denmark.
Change 3: From 1697 noblemen were sent abroad to learn shipbuilding, seamenship and navigation
Not change:
The setting-up of a naval academy at St Petersburg (which by 1718 had 500 pupils) and a school of navigation at Moscow were serious efforts to cope with it; but throughout Peter’s reign the navy continued to be far more dependent than the army on foreigners
Education
Change 1:
Peter’s best-known technical establishment was the Moscow School of Mathematics and Navigation, The School of Mathematics and its successor, the Naval Academy, ahd a profound influence, not only by producing the first generation of Russian explorers, surveyors, cartographers, astronomers, and the like, but also the area of secondary education. Graduates of the Mathematical school (by 1716 there were 200 of them) were expected to teach in the provinces in the so-called cipher schools.
Change 2:
By 1725 there were only about 2,000 pupils in secular schools and 2,500 in diocesan schools, together with a few hundred in special schools. Statistics provided by bishops for the period 1727-8 indicate that about 3,100 students, nearly all sons of priests, enrolled in episcopal schools
Not change:
One of Peter’s most famed methods of educating his subjects was sending them abroad. (He was not the first Russian ruler to do so: Boris Godunov dispatched a contignent in the late sixteenth century, but none of them returned). Peter’s first order of this variety dates to 1696. The following year Peter undertook his own vitis to Europe with fellow ‘volunteers’. By the 1710s training was established on a more regular basis, with agents abroad supervising the students, Prince L’vov in Holland, Konon Zotov in France, Fedor Saltykov in England, and Iury Kologrivov in Italy. Funds were dispensed by the Cabinet. Training abroad was not just military and naval, especially after 1716 or so, when Peter’s concepts of education began to broaden. Nor was it reserved for nobles. For example, on 12 February 1712, instructions were issued ‘to choose thirty persons, from captains to ensigns, good and young men, without regard for their families or whether they are rich or poor, only that they have a good heart and inclination and diligence in their duties and send them to study on service in France.’
- 1722 - 40 elementary schools set up but targeted at aristocracy
St Petersburg
- Peter used St. Petersburg as a ‘Window to the west’: outlet to Baltic attracting industry, trade & shipbuilding (allows Russia to integrate with Europe)
- Built at a huge finacial and human cost leading to resentment from society - up to 100,000 Serfs died in the building process
- Reluctant to accept the modern St. Petersburg, and Peter had to force nobles and merchants to live there
Agriculture
- 1721, there was a new decree that forbid the use of sickle during the harvest period. Instead, the braids and rake had to be used. This switch resulted in an improved efficiency during the field works, however, many peasants were superstitious and failed to implement Peter’s new methods
- Russia’s geography greatly limited any agricultural reforms - short summers, long winters, poor soil quality, low yield, lack of modern technology (simple plough),and old three-field fallow system still used: Peter paid little attention to real agricultural reforms
Colleges
- No effective subordinate system of Government prior to Peter - based on 35 Prikazy’s which were chaotic and had overlapping funtions
- In 1718, Peter estabilished 9 Colleges - working beneath the Senate - that mirrored the more effective Swedish Collegial System. Real divisions of Government allowed a more effective system
- Colleges often ended up recruiting the same staff as the previous Prikazy - corruption and ineptitude still littered the government
- College of Revenue Collection were given false and unreliable information by corrupt officials and thus could not collect the money they needed
Senate
Change 1:
All senators had an equal voice, and their decisions must be unanimous (in 1714 this was changed to majority decision). Any individual opposing a measure had to give his reasons in writing. Unlike the boyar council, the Senate could issue its own edicts independently of the sovereign, and all institutions and persons had to obey them.
Not change 1:
2. Procurator General (who chaired the Senate) created a culture of fear exacerbated by the punishments metered out to Senators who made mistakes led to fear of responsibility & lack of initiative… Maladministration and corruption swamped the Senate during Peter’s absence, and by 1722 there was a backlog of 16,000 unresolved matters
Not change 2:
In fact, the Russian Senate may best be seen as a variation on the Muscovite practice of leaving the capital in the charge of a group of named boyars during the ruler’s absence.
Political
- 1721, Peter introduced the Table of Ranks - a system that allowed important political roles to be obtained through merit over heritage. While symbolic of a great positive change for Russia - in practice, allowing for better led armies and more effective officials - the Table of Ranks proved to be intensely flawed, limited by the fact that not only did traditional nobility still maintain the highest ranks and titles irrespective of ability, but also due to the fact that it was extremely rare for a lower-class individual to move up through the ranks
- Introduction of a passport system in 1724. Through this, the Russian government had the ability to track and limit anyone’s movement between states, while also preventing the possible evasion of conscription
Local government
- Incredibly corrupt and notoriously greedy Voevody (military governers) were replaced by Burmistry which was then replaced by Gubernii in 1708 which was also later replaced by 50 Provintsii - The new systems of local government were chaotic and not well thought out and thus, suffered many of the same problems that the previous Voevody did. Not enough trustworth officials to put in power so corruption and incompetence was still evident
- As Serfs were not permitted places in local Government, Peter failed in his attempts to mirror the Swedish system, essentially creating local Governments that were run by officials who already had other military duties (especially in the Gubernii) and thus, in actuality, Russia saw a continuation of the militarily led Voevedy
Dress and Beards
- 1701 decree stating that men had to wear French or German styled clothing (i.e. waistcoat, breeches, gaiters, boots & hat) and that women had to wear petticoats, skirts, and bonnets - they would have to pay a tax to enter Moscow if wearing traditional clothes
- Men who wanted to keep their beards had to pay a significant tax and had to wear a metal proving they’d paid or else roving government barbers could shave them on the street - significant resistance as beards were a symbol of piety and many chose to pay the taxes
Alphabet and calendar
- 20 December 1699, Peter decreed that Russia should observe calendar years from the birth of Christ (Julian Calendar) - caused confusion for Russian people as Orthodox Church refused to use new calendar
- 1710, Peter approved the new civil alphabet and the civil type - caused more confusion as the Russian Orthodox Church continued to use the Church-Slavonic alphabet and many revisions were unclear and hard to learn
Fiscal reforms
- 1701 decree stating that men had to wear French or German styled clothing (i.e. waistcoat, breeches, gaiters, boots & hat) and that women had to wear petticoats, skirts, and bonnets - they would have to pay a tax to enter Moscow if wearing traditional clothes
- Men who wanted to keep their beards had to pay a significant tax and had to wear a metal proving they’d paid or else roving government barbers could shave them on the street - significant resistance as beards were a symbol of piety and many chose to pay the taxes
- His fiscal reforms primarily concerned a movement to a Western Russia, however, were often ineffective
Culture
Change 1:
A decree was issued on 16th January 1705, when men of all ranks, including merchants and artisans, were orderd to shave, but anyone who wished to keep beard and whiskers was given the option to pay a fine, 60 roubles for nobles, military officers, and chancellery officials, 100 roubles for merchants of the first guild, 60 roubles from middle guild merchants and artisans, 30 roubles for member of the third guild, boyars’ bondslaves, postal drivers, coachmen, junior deacons (but not priests and deacons), and ‘Moscow residents of all ranks’
Change 2:
Dress reform quickly followed. Korb records that in February 1699 Peter cut off the long sleeves of some of his officers’ garments, and that some returning envoys were required to wear ‘German dress’, a point confirmed at the end of the account of Boris Sheremetev’s visit to Europe, which records that the boyar arrived at Lefort’s mansion ‘clad in German dress on his majesty’s orders’.
Not change:
Those dramatic and visible signs of cultural reform – changes in dress and hair-style forced upon urban dwellers – were not unheralded. Peter’s father’s ban on Western fashion issued in 1675, aimed primarily at distinguishing Russians from foreigners, in order to prevent the latter from entering churches undetected, showed that some Russians were flouting the dress codes. In 1680 Tsar Fedor issued a further decree, banning heavy, expensive court dress, at the same time outlawing specifically foreign styles. The need to repeat the ban on foreign fashion indicates that Alexis’s decree had been ineffective, and so, apparently, was Fedor’s.
Not change 2:
Further evidence that Muscovites were flouting the rules is contained in an anonymous letter received in the Preobrazhensky prikaz in 1708 pointing out that when the tsar was in Moscow everyone went around in German dress, but in his absence the boyars’ wives put on Russian dress and wore old-fashioned gowns to church, even though they put skirts over them.
Peter was killing two birds with one stone, by removing personal appearance, along with many other matters, from the Church’s traditional sphere of influence and undermining national pride in an area which was at odds with his Western-oriented reforms.
