The country was on the eve of great transformations. What were the prerequisites for Peter's reforms?

Russia was a backward country. This backwardness posed a serious danger to the independence of the Russian people.

Industry was feudal in structure, and in terms of production volume it was significantly inferior to Western industry. European countries.

The Russian army largely consisted of backward noble militia and archers, poorly armed and trained. The complex and clumsy state apparatus, headed by the boyar aristocracy, did not meet the needs of the country.

Rus' also lagged behind in the field of spiritual culture. Education hardly penetrated the masses, and even in the ruling circles there were many uneducated and completely illiterate people.

Russia in the 17th century, by the very course of historical development, was faced with the need for radical reforms, since only in this way could it secure its worthy place among the states of the West and the East.

It should be noted that by this time in the history of our country, significant shifts in its development had already occurred.

The first industrial enterprises of the manufacturing type arose, handicrafts and crafts grew, and trade in agricultural products developed.

The social and geographical division of labor has continuously increased - the basis of the established and developing all-Russian market. The city was separated from the village. Fishing and agricultural areas were identified.

Domestic and foreign trade developed.

In the second half of the 17th century, the nature of the state system in Rus' began to change, and absolutism took shape more and more clearly.

Russian culture and sciences received further development: mathematics and mechanics, physics and chemistry, geography and botany, astronomy and mining. Cossack explorers discovered a number of new lands in Siberia.

Belinsky was right when he spoke about the affairs and people of pre-Petrine Russia: “My God, what eras, what faces! Yes, there would be several Shakespeares and Walter Scotts!”

The 17th century was a time when Russia established constant communication with Western Europe, established closer trade and diplomatic ties with it, used its technology and science, and embraced its culture and enlightenment. Studying and borrowing, Russia developed independently, taking only what it needed, and only when it was necessary. This was a time of accumulation of strength of the Russian people, which made it possible to implement the grandiose reforms of Peter, prepared by the very course of the historical development of Russia.

Peter's reforms were prepared by the entire previous history of the people, "demanded by the people." Already before Peter, a fairly integral reform program had been drawn up, which in many ways coincided with Peter’s reforms, in others going even further than them. A general transformation was being prepared, which, in the peaceful course of affairs, could spread over a number of generations.

The reform, as it was carried out by Peter, was his personal matter, an unparalleled violent matter and, however, involuntary and necessary.

External dangers states were ahead natural growth a people ossified in its development. The renewal of Russia could not be left to the gradual quiet work of time, not pushed by force.

The reforms affected literally all aspects of the life of the Russian state and the Russian people, but the main ones include the following reforms: military, government and administration, class structure of Russian society, taxation, church, as well as in the field of culture and everyday life.

It should be noted that the main driving force Peter's reforms became war.

It is necessary to highlight three important events of those years that influenced the formation of Peter the Reformer. Firstly, this is a trip to Arkhangelsk in 1693-1694. An ordinary “amusing” trip to the city on the White Sea undoubtedly became a major event in the life of the young tsar. For the first time he saw a real sea, real ships, made his first voyage in a turbulent and dangerous element, so unlike the surface of the ponds of the Moscow region and Lake Pleshcheyevo. This gave a powerful impetus to fantasy, a dream of the sea appeared for Russia, and a genuine cult of the ship and the sea element arose. Since that time in Arkhangelsk, as M. Bogoslovsky wrote, “the sound of sea waves, sea ​​air, the sea element pulls him towards itself and over the years will become a necessary need for him. He will develop an organic desire for the sea.”

Second important event Those years began the Azov campaigns of 1695-1696 - a war with Turkey for access to the Sea of ​​Azov. Here, on the southern borders, during these years a dress rehearsal took place for those events that unfolded on a different, more grandiose and dramatic scale at the beginning of the 18th century already on the western borders. The initial failures to capture Azov, the construction of a fleet in Voronezh, finally, a military victory over a serious rival, the construction of a new city on the shores of the Sea of ​​Azov, different from traditional Russian cities - Taganrog - we later meet all this on the banks of the Neva and Baltic. For Peter, the Azov campaigns were the first military school, which, although he later assessed it skeptically, still brought him undoubted benefit. The experience of leading a large army, besieging and storming a strong fortress was not in vain for the military genius Peter. No less important is the fact that here, under the walls of Azov, the idea of ​​his place, “position,” and role in the life of Russia entered into Peter’s consciousness. It was from the Azov campaigns, and not from the moment of accession, as the Soviet historian N.I. Pavlenko rightly noted. Peter subsequently counted down his “service” on the throne. It was the idea of ​​serving Russia, as he understood it, that became the main core of his life, filling for him with the highest meaning all his actions and deeds, even the most unseemly and dubious from the point of view of the morality of that time.

Finally, the third event that influenced the development of the personality of the future transformer of Russia was his long trip abroad as part of the Great Embassy in 1696-1697. Peter rode not as a member of the delegation, but as an accompanying person, among other nobles and servants. This gave him significant freedom and allowed him to become closely acquainted with many aspects of life in Holland, England and other countries. And it was, of course, not only about learning the craft of a shipbuilder in Dutch and English shipyards. Peter for the first time saw Western European civilization in all its military and cultural power, felt its spirit, meaning and strength. He took from Europe not only knowledge, impressions, work peeves, but also an idea that he formulated for himself very simply: to make Russia just as strong , like the great powers of Europe, it is necessary to learn everything they need from the West as quickly as possible. It was then that Peter’s orientation towards the Western European model of life finally took shape.

By the end of the 17th century. The Russian state came up with a heavy load of problems.

Russia's economic and military lag behind advanced European countries was growing, which posed a great threat to national sovereignty. The vast expanse of the country was sparsely populated. At the end of the 17th century, the population of Russia was about 13 million people. Most people were located in the center of the European Plain on infertile lands, because... The black soils of the Black Sea region and Kuban had not yet been developed. From the populated areas of the center, part of the population moved to the outskirts of the country.

The technical and economic backwardness of Russia was a consequence of the difficult trials that befell it. The development of the state was slowed down for a long time by the Mongol-Tatar yoke. The country found itself cut off from communication with Europe for centuries.

In the era of the heyday of international trade and colonial conquests, our country found itself far from world trade routes. Its foreign trade was entirely in the hands of foreign merchants. Intermediaries (Dutch, British) received huge profits from the resale of Russian goods. Russia did not have convenient access to the seas. It was necessary to achieve access to the sea.

The service class, in its socio-political and cultural level, did not meet the requirements of the country's social development; it remained a patriarchal social community of the medieval era, which had a vague idea of ​​its class interests.

Social instability created the need to strengthen positions ruling class, its mobilization and renewal, as well as improving the state administrative apparatus and troops.

The backward economy also corresponded to backward social relations.

Russia developed on the principles of serfdom, where subsistence farming still dominated, workers were attached to the land and the peasant was personally dependent on the landowner. The land, cultivated with simple tools, produced a poor harvest, most of which ended up in the hands of secular and spiritual feudal lords. Serfdom fettered the economic initiative of the peasants, suppressed everything new and delayed the country's movement along the path of progress.

In these difficult conditions, Tsar Peter I, having become the independent ruler of Russia, directed all his remarkable energy towards reforming the country.

It should be noted that already before Peter, an integral reform program was carried out, which largely coincided with Peter’s reforms. A general reform was being prepared, which, if things went smoothly, could last for a number of generations. The external dangers of the state overtook the natural growth of the people, who were lagging behind in their development.

New phenomena, albeit slowly, made their way. The subsistence nature of the economy was gradually disrupted, and crafts and small-scale production developed.

Of no small importance for the development of productive forces was the emergence of manufacturing type production: Kashira, Olonets, Tula and other ironworks. Glass factories and tanneries were built near Moscow, the state-owned linen manufactory in Moscow turned into large enterprise. In the Urals, initial steps were taken to establish large metallurgical plants. All this said that the state and private entrepreneurs began to make the transition from craft workshops to large manufactories, which were based on the use of machines, division of labor and new technologies in production processes. The social and geographical division of labor gradually increased, which formed the basis of the emerging all-Russian market. From the second half XVII century, the number of cities in Russia increases, the city is increasingly separated from the countryside. The division of labor affected the allocation of fishing and agricultural areas. Handicraft and handicraft iron-making industries were formed near Tula, Ustyuzhna, and Kargopol. In Kostroma, Belozersk, Yaroslavl, Kazan, cloth, leather, linen, and other industries are developing. Trade relations between cities are established. According to customs books, Vyazma traded with 45 cities, Tikhvin with 30. City markets grew, fairs emerged (Makaryevskaya, Irbitskaya, Arkhangelskaya). Siberia supplied furs, the North - timber, tar, blubber, resin, the Ryazan land - bread, the Volga region - fish, salt, potash, etc. The development of trades and crafts, the emergence of the first manufactories, the growth of domestic and foreign trade - all this could not but affect the economic policy of the Russian government. An interesting document of that time is the New Trade Charter, drawn up under the leadership of boyar A.L. Ordin-Nashchokina in 1667. The charter spoke of a unified customs policy; the charter also determined tariffs and trade rules beneficial to Russian merchants. The New Trade Charter confirmed the emergence of the policy of mercantilism in Russia. It should be noted that Ordin-Nashchokin advised Russian merchants to found trading companies in order to protect themselves from arbitrariness and competition from foreign merchants. Little by little, Russia’s isolation from Western Europe. Elements of Western European culture and scientific knowledge spread more and more. Trade and diplomatic ties were established, and a mutual exchange of experience was carried out. The German Settlement opened in Moscow, foreigners began to visit Russia more often, and Russians began to travel abroad. Thus, by the end of the 17th century, major changes emerged in the economic life of the country; former natural-economic relations were replaced by commodity-money relations, internal exchange began to resume, and closer trade ties with foreign markets were emerging. In the second half of the 17th century, changes occurred in the system of government. autocracy was consolidated, state centralization was carried out. There was a process of gradual transition from class-representative to absolute monarchy. The once frequently assembled zemstvo councils, which consisted of elected members of the nobles and the urban population, as well as members of the Boyar Duma and the higher clergy, cease to meet. The last Zemsky Sobor was convened in 1653. Another sign of the foundation of absolutism was the change in the composition of the Boyar Duma. In this once aristocratic formation, people began to appear whose careers were directly dependent on personal abilities, and not on origin. The Boyar Duma became more and more subject to the tsar. The administrative system also changed, increasingly revealing its imperfections. Certain innovations also appeared in military affairs. Instead of the noble militia and streltsy army, regiments of the new system became increasingly important in the army - Reitar, Reitar dragoon, and soldier regiments, which anticipated the regular army of the early 18th century. Changes also affected the field of culture. The penetration of secular principles into the culture began. Educated layers of townspeople and nobility increasingly began to express interest in scientific knowledge, and the advanced educated nobles of that time had already begun to comprehend the meaning of reforms.

All this indicated that in the second half of the 17th century Russia was on the verge of transformation.

The transformation of Russia could not be left to the gradual quiet work of time, without pushing it violently.

The reforms of Peter I affected literally all aspects of the life of the Russian state and the Russian people, but the main ones include the following transformations: military reform, reform of government and administration, transformations of the class structure of Russian society, church reform, as well as transformations in the field of culture and everyday life .

At the turn of the 17th-18th centuries, possessing a vast territory (from the East European Plain to the vast expanses of Siberia) and having a significant reserve of natural resources, Russia nevertheless seriously lagged behind the leading European powers.

The lag was manifested in the underdevelopment of capitalist relations (as evidenced by the small number of manufactories, where the labor of serfs was mainly used), and in the insufficiency of exploration and extraction of mineral resources (which led to the need to import products from them from abroad), and in the poor development of trade with other countries due to the impossibility of access to the Baltic and Black Seas, and frequent military failures in the second half of the 17th century. (due to the lack of a regular army and navy), and the low level of science and education.

The technical and economic backwardness of Russia was a consequence of the difficult trials that befell it. The development of the state was slowed down for a long time by the Mongol-Tatar yoke. They constantly had to “look back” to the East, so the country found itself cut off from natural communication with Europe for centuries. The situation was also aggravated by feudal-serf relations.

However, already in the second half of the 17th century. In Russia, the prerequisites for transformations and implementation of the most important reforms are emerging (Diagram 106). First of all, these include the objective need for the development of industry and foreign trade, science and education, as well as the desire not only to protect their lands from the encroachments of Sweden, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and Turkey, but also to establish themselves in the rank of a strong European power.

The implementation of these ideas is associated with the reform activities of Tsar Peter I (1672-1725).

Scheme 106

As Peter grew up and could already lay claim to real power, the relationship between him and Sophia became tense and even hostile. Sophia's supporters tried to enlist the support of the archers to prevent the transfer of power to Peter. On the night of August 7-8, 1689, Peter received a message about the gathering of archers in the Kremlin and allegedly about their intention to “harass” him. Frightened Peter hurriedly leaves the village of Preobrazhenskoye for the Trinity-Sergius Monastery in the hope of finding protection there. At his call, his mother, Queen Natalya, the boyars, the “amusing” regiments, foreign servicemen and some of the archers arrive there. The preponderance of forces was clearly on Peter's side. Sophia, realizing her powerlessness, stopped the struggle for power. She was imprisoned in the Novodevichy Convent. Power again passed to the supporters of the Naryshkins, but Peter did not immediately begin to govern the state, because he had his own intentions, the implementation of which he took up (shipbuilding, the Azov campaigns of 1695-1696 and foreign travel of 1697-1698).

Northern War and military reforms

The Northern War of 1700-1721 became a significant catalyst for the urgent transformations. Russia urgently needed access to the Baltic Sea to develop foreign trade. Peter decided to go to war against Sweden, concluding the so-called Northern Alliance with Denmark, Poland and Saxony. The first serious military clash between Russian and Swedish troops took place in November 1700 near Narva. The Russian army suffered a severe defeat. The Swedish king Charles XII, a young and energetic commander, after the Narva victory was faced with a choice: either to go deep into Russia, having behind him a Saxon army, much more combat-ready than the Russian one, or to oppose Augustus II, who was both the Saxon elector and Polish king. He chose the second path and got stuck in Poland for quite a long time. Only in 1706 was Charles XII able to force Augustus II to peace and withdrawal from the alliance with Russia (Table 11).

Meanwhile, Peter very successfully used this respite to reform the army and continue the reforms.

The local system as the main type of support for military labor had by that time lost its significance. Therefore, Peter began to take measures to form a regular army. The reason for this was the dissolution of the Streltsy regiments in 1699 after the suppression of the rebellion.

Initially, two methods were used to create regular regiments: admitting everyone ("volunteers") into the "freedom", except for peasants who paid state taxes; a set of “data”, i.e. peasants, whom the landowner was obliged to supply in accordance with established proportions.

In 1705, Peter’s government took the next step: admission to the “freedom” was stopped and recruitment into the so-called “recruits” was announced directly from the peasant population. This created a stable system that provided the armed forces with people, which lasted until 1874.

The reason for the sustainability of the recruitment system was that it was fully consistent with the peculiarities of the social and economic structure of the country. Recruitment and serfdom are two sides of the same coin. In total, from 1699 to 1725, 53 recruitments were carried out. They contributed more than 284 thousand people to the army and navy (Figure 107).

New military regulations also appeared. The “Teaching and Cunning of the Military Formation”, which was in force under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, was replaced by Peter’s “Military Regulations”, “Military Regulations”, “Establishment for Battle”. A new uniform army uniform, orders and medals, and promotions were introduced. The first officer schools were organized to train command personnel.

Table 11

Northern War (1700-1721)

Causes of the war: ü Swedish imperial policy and the desire for dominance in the Baltic; ü the need for Russia to gain access to Europe through the Baltic Sea and the Baltic territories; ü geopolitical contradictions between Sweden and other European powers
Basic	Progress of hostilities
	Sweden's attack on Denmark and its withdrawal from the war and the Northern Alliance. Defeat of the Russian army near Narva (1700)
Polish (1701-1706)	Swedish military actions in Europe in Saxony and Poland. Defeat of the Saxon Elector Augustus II, renunciation of the Polish crown and withdrawal from the Northern Alliance
	The deployment of hostilities in Russia after the return of the Swedish army from of Eastern Europe. Victories of the Russian army: - near the village Lesnoy (September 1708); - near Poltava (June 27, 1709). Retreat of the remnants of the Swedish army led by King Charles XII into Turkish possessions
Turkish	The Turkish campaign of the Russian army led by Peter I (1710-1711). Defeat of Russia. Resumption of hostilities in the Baltic states. Capture of Riga, Vyborg and Revel by Russian troops (1710). Transfer of military operations to the territory of Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea
Norwegian-Swedish	Victories of the Russian fleet at Cape Gangut (1714) and about. Grenham (1720).
Basic terms of the peace treaty: ü Russia received the Baltic territories (Livonia, Estonia, Ingermanland), part of Karelia and access to the Baltic Sea; ü Russia agreed to pay Sweden monetary compensation and return Finland

Scheme 107

Peter paid special attention to the creation of a fleet. He continued the work of his father, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, under whom the first Russian ship "Eagle" was launched in Demidov on the Oka. The construction of Peter's fleet began in Voronezh in 1695–1696. Here, after the failure of the first Azov campaign, shipwrights from Holland, England and Venice, Russian carpenters and workers were gathered, who were able to build in a short time a large number of ships.

Historians consider the birthday of the Russian fleet to be May 3, 1696, when Peter I set sail from Voronezh on the Principium galley at the head of a detachment of eight galleys. In total, 28 ships, 23 galleys and many small vessels were built at Voronezh shipyards before 1702.

The ongoing military reforms very quickly gave positive results: from the end of 1701, the Russian army began to win victories in battles with the Swedes. In 1702, Peter took the Oreshek fortress by storm, renaming it the city of Shlisselburg.

In 1703, St. Petersburg was founded, and the following year the Russians captured Narva and Dorpat (Yuryev).

Meanwhile, the army of Charles XII returned to Russia. The fighting continued in Ukraine, but unsuccessfully for the Swedes. On September 28, 1708, a detachment under the command of Peter I in the area of ​​the village. Lesnoy attacked and defeated the 16,000-strong corps of the Swedish general A. Levengaupt, who was coming from Livonia to join Charles XII. The Swedes lost all artillery and convoys. Peter I called this victory “the mother of the Poltava battle.”

In October 1708, Hetman of Ukraine I.S. went over to the side of the Swedes. Mazepa. Peter I regarded this as a betrayal of the Russian throne. Ukraine and its hetman found themselves hostage to the geopolitical confrontation between Sweden and Russia. Russian troops burned the “nest of treason” - the city of Baturin, and Mazepa himself was removed from the hetmanship in absentia and excommunicated from the church. Later, after the defeat of Charles XII near Poltava, he fled with him to Turkish possessions, where he died in 1709 in the city of Bendery.

In the spring of 1709, the Swedish army approached Poltava. Charles XII had an army of 30,000 at his disposal; it was weakened, but its combat effectiveness was still preserved. The Poltava garrison heroically withstood a siege of more than two months, which made it possible for the main forces of the Russian army led by Peter I to approach. The general battle was decided to take place on June 27, 1709. The plan of the Swedish king was for the infantry to take possession of the Russian redoubts, and the cavalry to finish the job . She was supposed to, moving between the redoubts, defeat the Russian cavalry and capture the cannons. But the plans of Charles XII never came true. Having launched the offensive, the Swedes captured part of the Russian fortifications, but they could not advance further, since they were met with fire by our artillery. Having retreated into the forest and regrouped forces, the enemy again a short time went on the offensive. The troops clashed in a fierce battle. After two and a half hours of fierce battle, the Swedish army, having lost more than 9 thousand people, was defeated, and the Swedish king with the remnants of his forces was forced to hide in Turkish possessions. In the Northern War, a turning point is coming towards Russia.

In 1710, Russian troops occupied the cities of Vyborg, Riga and Revel, which meant the annexation of Estland and Livonia to Russia.

The Turkish government, fearing the further strengthening of Russia, declared war on it in the fall of 1710. The Russian army entered the territory of the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, oppressed by Turkey, but the general uprising of Christians, as Peter had hoped, did not occur, and the Russian army soon found itself in a difficult situation. On the river Prut in the summer of 1711, the Russians entered into negotiations, a peace was concluded, according to which Russia undertook to return the Azov region to the Turks.

Having suffered a heavy defeat in the south, Peter continued the war with Sweden with renewed energy. In 1712-1714. Russian troops fought in Finland and Northern Germany. The fleet built by Peter was also active (on June 27, 1714, the Russians captured 10 Swedish ships off Cape Gangut). In 1718-1719 Peace negotiations between Russia and Sweden took place on the Åland Islands in the Baltic Sea. In December 1718, Charles XII was killed in Norway, and negotiations stopped. But offensive fighting The Russian army at sea and on land forced Sweden to resume peace negotiations. As a result, on August 30, 1721, a peace treaty was signed in the Finnish city of Nystadt, according to which Estland, Livonia, Ingria, part of Karelia, as well as a number of islands in the Baltic Sea went to Russia. All this not only created the necessary conditions for the accelerated development of the country, but also contributed to strengthening its position in the international arena (see Table 11).

Kadatskaya Victoria Vladimirovna, student of YuRIU RANEPA

Reasons, features, consequences and price of Peter's reforms.

The figure of Peter I and his era are perhaps the most mythologized in Russian history. Disputes about the results of his reforms began during his lifetime and continue to this day.

Opening any standard history textbook, we will immediately see the following reasons for Peter’s reforms:

1. Russia's noticeable lag in terms of its socio-economic, military and cultural development from advanced European countries.
2. Awareness of the need for reforms using European experience.
3. Active-volitional activity of Peter 1, orientation towards transformations and changes in people’s value orientations. [ 7, p. 180]

After this, the multifaceted activities of Peter 1 for the benefit of the Fatherland begin to be covered: a regular army and navy were created, victory in the Northern War, Europe was forced to reckon with Russia, industry grew several times, production volume increased, a new capital and new cities were built, the Academy of Sciences was founded, schools, printing houses, the publication of the newspaper “Vedomost” were opened, the transition to a new chronology, etc.

I note the merits of the emperor, his cruel methods are also mentioned in passing, but “the time was such,” “Peter was the son of his time,” “it was impossible to do otherwise.”

After this, the question immediately arises: “Why then do disputes about Peter’s activities go on for such an extended amount of time?” My task is to analyze the activities of Peter I, and most importantly, to summarize the consequences of this activity.

To do this you need:

1. Reasons for Peter's reforms.
2. Features of Peter's reforms.
3. Consequences of the implementation of Peter's reforms with some statistics.
4. "Price" of Peter's reforms

Reasons for Peter's reforms

To do this, in order to correctly highlight Peter’s activities, we will consider the reasons that were given above. To do this, we believe that it is very important to consider what the state of the country was before Peter I ascended the throne.

Historians still write little about Sophia’s seven-year reign, considering it a “dark period” before the brilliant era of Peter. But the facts prove otherwise. Despite her tough masculine character, Sophia ruled with feminine gentleness and prudence. Even Prince Boris Kurakin, who often criticized her, admitted in his memoirs: “The reign of Princess Sofia Alekseevna began with all diligence and justice to everyone and to the pleasure of the people, so there has never been such a wise reign in the Russian state.”[ 4 ]

The princess intensified the fight against bribes and arbitrariness of officials, as well as against denunciation, which has become a real scourge in Russia. She forbade the acceptance of anonymous denunciations, and ordered the scoundrels who filled the courtrooms to be flogged. changes in some articles in the legislation towards mitigation: the death penalty for uttering “obscene and tricky” words was replaced by whipping and exile; women who killed their husbands were no longer punished terrible death“dig-in”, which meant burying the guilty person alive in a grave, and they were punished without suffering by cutting off the head. [ 9 ]

The new decree prohibited creditors from taking debtor husbands without their wives to work off the debt; it was also prohibited to collect debts from widows and orphans if there was no estate left after the death of their husbands and fathers. Continuing her father’s policy, Sophia actively invited foreign specialists to Russia. The domestic education system also developed - in 1687, the Slavic-Greco-Latin Academy, conceived by the princess’s teacher Simeon of Polotsk, was opened. There is information that the princess even thought about opening a school for girls.

The careful diplomacy of Sophia and Golitsyn brought success in foreign policy. Poland agreed to the “Eternal Peace”, which legalized the annexation of Ukrainian lands to Russia. The Treaty of Nerchinsk was signed with China, which recognized the interests of the Russians on the distant banks of the Amur. Envoys from the French, Austrian, and Turkish courts appeared in Moscow. One of them, de Neuville, wrote about Sophia: “As wide, short and rough as her figure is, so subtle, sharp and political is her mind.” Almost all contemporaries agreed with this.

According to contemporaries, Prince V. Golitsyn had many reform plans. Thus, the prince considered it necessary to send nobles to Europe to study military affairs, and dreamed of creating a regular army consisting of the nobility. He was going to free the peasants from serfdom (this only happened in 1861), and impose state quitrent on the land plots that became their property. Unfortunately, V. Golitsyn did not have time not only to implement all these grandiose plans, but not even to take any initial steps. All these good wishes remained only on paper.

As we can see from the last paragraph, most of the transformations that Peter 1 carried out were proposed by Prince V. Golitsyn. Other transformations in which Peter 1 is attributed to the pioneers are generally false:

1. Creation of the first institutions. In fact, the first institute was built under Sophia - the Slavic - Greek-Latin Academy.
2. Creation of a regular army. Historians have different opinions on this matter; some believe that the creation of a regular army took place under Mikhail Romanov. Creation of regiments of the “foreign (new) system” - soldiers (foot), reitar (mounted) and dragoons (both on foot and on horseback). To serve in the regiments, volunteers were recruited from among free people and Cossacks. They received government cash salaries, firearms and bladed weapons, horses, and uniforms. Foreigners experienced in military affairs were usually appointed commanders of these regiments.

3.Creation of self-government bodies. But before Peter there were many bodies of self-government - Zemsky Sobors, veche liberties, vassal-squad relations. Let us not forget that Peter 1 liquidated the Boyar Duma, an institution that represented the interests of part of the top of society, just as he liquidated another body of self-government in 1702 - provincial and zemstvo elders.

Special attention should be paid to Peter's transformations, which brought us closer to the developed countries of Europe. When a conversation arises about Europe, many textbooks are replete with similar theses: often visiting abroad, he tried to adopt all the best for implementation in Russia.

However, let's remember what the head of state studied: ship building, turning, he was a good carpenter, blacksmith, watchmaker, skilled pathologist - Peter knew all 14 crafts. But at this stage the question does not arise in your mind: “Why does the head of state need to be a good carpenter or blacksmith? Wouldn’t it be more useful for the emperor, especially during his stay in Europe, to learn how to govern the state, develop industry, etc., rather than climb the masts of ships?” From the XVI-XVIII centuries. In developed countries, the process of returning to society part of its functions, once taken from it by the state, is observed and gaining momentum. For example, in the 80s, 17th century in Sweden, Charles IV abolished serfdom. In Russia, such transformations did not occur. On the contrary, all the reforms were aimed at strengthening autocratic power: he removed all the liberties of the nobility - the decree “On Single Inheritance” of 1714, forced them to shave their beards and dress in European dresses; full control of the activities of artisans - organization of workshops; merchants were organized into kumpanstvos.

From all of the above, I would like to conclude that the reasons given above are not sufficiently literate, because Peter 1 was not involved in transforming Russia along the lines of European developed states; some transformations, where Peter 1 is credited with primacy, were laid down even before him.

Features of Peter's reforms.

Speaking about the peculiarities of Peter's reforms, historians note their internal contradictions and cruelty. He did not understand that the violence with which reforms were carried out gave immediate results. Example: the economy of the 18th century in Russia was based on manual labor, and we did it. for a short period of time, to catch up with Europe in its development. But in Europe, at that time, machine labor was already developing, and it was no longer possible for us to catch up with manual labor. The peculiarity of his reforms was that they gave results only when Peter was alive; after his death, people were not so afraid of his heirs. How feared he was, so the reforms stopped bearing fruit.

Consequences of the implementation of Peter's reforms

1. The country's population, according to researcher P.N. Milyukov, decreased by 14.6%, i.e. one-seventh part. The bulk of the losses were those who died during the construction of St. Petersburg and other cities, who died from hunger and ruin due to unaffordable taxes. According to researchers Ya. E. Vodarsky, E. V. Anisimov and others, the data of P.N. Miliukov are a little overpriced. But in any case, this is a huge number of victims, negating all the positive achievements of Peter.
2. Direct and indirect taxes increased 5.5 times, according to E.V. Anisimova.
3. The ruin of the wealthiest part of the Russian merchants - the “living room of the hundred”, the destruction of loan and usurious capital.
4. The process of replacing civilian free labor with slave unproductive labor of serfs (Edicts of January 18, 1721 (on permission to buy peasants and serfs to factories), of May 28, 1723 (regulating the procedure for hiring people) and others). This determined the future economic lag of Russia.
5. In a detrimental way spiritual development society was affected by church reform. By replacing the patriarchate with the Synod, Peter 1 abolished the autonomy and partial independence of the church. He made extensive use of church institutions to implement police policies. Subjects, under pain of heavy fines, were obliged to attend church and confess their sins to a priest. The priest, according to the law, was obliged to report to the authorities anything illegal that became known during confession. The secret of confession has ceased to be a secret. This significantly undermined the authority of the church.
6. As a result of Peter's reforms, there was a significant strengthening of the split between “masters and servants,” which weakened our country and slowed down its development.
7. The system of public administration created by Peter controlled and regulated all spheres of society, suppressing all public activity.
8. Theft and corruption have reached unprecedented levels. Many textbooks give a textbook example that Peter, listening to reports on thefts in the Senate, lost his temper and ordered the promulgation of a decree stating that if anyone steals from the treasury only enough to buy a rope, he will be hanged with it. The answer of the Prosecutor General of the Senate P.I. Yaguzhinsky is also known: “Do you, Your Majesty, want to remain the emperor alone, without subjects? We all steal, only one is bigger and more noticeable than the other.”

A little about the price of Peter's reforms

The majority mindlessly states: Peter 1 created an army. But few people think about the cost at which he did it. This is how one of the documents of the Military Collegium (September 1719) describes the conduct of recruitment: “... 1) when recruits are collected in the provinces, they are first taken from their houses, shackled, and brought to the cities, they are kept in great crowds in prisons and prisons for a considerable time, and thus exhausted on the spot, they will be sent, without considering the number of people and the distance of the journey, with one, and then unfit, officer or nobleman, with insufficient food; Moreover, having missed a convenient time, they will lead through a cruel thaw, from which many illnesses occur on the road and die untimely, and what’s worse is that many without repentance, while others, unable to bear such great need, run away and pester the thieves’ companies, from why the most evil thing happens to the state is ruin, because from such a bad order, neither peasants nor soldiers, but ruiners of the state become... great fear are coming." [10, p 446]

Not everything was so simple in the field of education. Many are touched by the success in disseminating knowledge and opening schools and colleges. Firstly, at that time, among merchants, 96% were able to write and read, and among nobles, 65%. There were many literate people among officials and townspeople. Secondly, in this area Peter used his traditional methods of violence and administration.

The fact that the Tsar sent the sons of Russian aristocrats to study abroad is widely known. However, few people know the details of this plot. In 1697, 61 people were sent for training, 23 of them bore the princely title: 39 people to Italy, 22 to England and Holland. This is how the Austrian agent describes this departure in his report to the Tsar on July 8, 1697: “Young people leave here (from Moscow - author’s note) every day, who, under pain of losing their lands and property, were ordered to go at their own expense, and no one can return without evidence of services rendered.” It was not the desire to expand their horizons, but fear that drove most young people out of their homes. V. O. Klyuchevsky wrote that Peter’s school, “which turned the education of youth into the training of animals, could only repel people.”

As soon as the emperor closed his eyes, his closest associates started talking about the possible death of the state. Prosecutor General of the Senate P.I. Yaguzhinsky gave Catherine 1 Note. This document spoke about many years of crop failures, that the people, ruined by the poll tax, were impoverished and dying of hunger, about mass exodus to Poland, the Don and even to the Bashkirs. The Note ends with a warning that if the previous policy is continued, the state may come to “ultimate destruction and flight.”

The experience of Peter the Great’s reforms confirmed global practice - without delegating part of the powers to a society that is at least partially structured (parliament, self-government, political parties, etc.), without civilized forms of feedback between the state and society, even a well-functioning state apparatus is doomed to carry out ineffective politicians: strategic and tactical miscalculations with long-term negative consequences, solving problems at the cost of such costs and losses that completely or partially depreciate the results achieved.

List of sources used

1. Alekseeva E.V. The use of European experience in government under Peter I // Questions of history. 2006 No. 2
2. Anisimov E.V. "Peter I: the birth of an empire."
3. Ansimov E.V. Tax reform of Peter I. M., 1987
4. Bogdanov A.P. “Princess Sophia and Peter. Drama of Sofia” / A.P. Bogdanov - M.: Veche - 2008. -380 s.
5. Bogoslovsky M.M. “Peter I. Materials for biography” / Ed. IN AND. Lebedeva. T. 1. M.,
6. Danilov A.G. “Russia at the crossroads of history of the XIV-XIX centuries.” / A.G. Danilov - St. Petersburg: Aletheya, 2017. -440 p.
7. Kirillov V.V. "History of Russia, a textbook for bachelors." Tutorial/ V.V. Kirillov - 4th ed., revised. and additional - M.: Education Yurayt, 2012. - 661 p. — Series: Bachelor.
8. Klyuchevsky V.O. Russian history course. Part IV.
9. Sklyarenko V., Syadko V., Rudycheva I., “Riddles of History. Romanov Dynasty” / V. Sklyarenko, V. Syadko, I. Rudycheva. — Publisher: Folio, 2013 — 520 p.
10. Soloviev S.M. “History of Russia since ancient times” Book. VIII, T. 16.
11. Shilnik L. “Black holes Russian Empire"/ L. Shilnik - M.: NC ENAS, 2007 -192s.
12. Eidelman N.Ya. "Revolution from above" in Russia. M., 1989

Introduction

Peter's church foreign policy emperor

At the end XVII century in the historical arena Russian state a personality of the first magnitude, on a global scale, appeared - Tsar Peter I. He was the grandson of the founder of the new ruling Romanov dynasty, Mikhail Fedorovich, who was called to the royal throne by the Zemsky Sobor in 1613.

The personality of Peter occupied a large place in the work of poets and writers, painters and sculptors at all times. But already in the same century when Peter lived and died, the attitude towards him was ambiguous. Already during his lifetime, not everyone agreed with what and how he did when introducing his famous innovations. Later, in the second half of the century, some, recognizing the successes in Peter’s transformative activities, mourned the ancient morals and customs of Moscow Rus' that had passed away under him, the decline of aristocratic families, and the damage to morals. Others, for example A.N. Radishchev, also recognizing the great Peter the reformer, reproached him for destroying “the last signs of the wild freedom of his Fatherland.” These disputes continued into the 19th century and continue today.

Nevertheless, we must recognize the merit of Peter I. He, undoubtedly, was a product of his era, having absorbed its main features, and at the same time the creator of a new era, who largely determined the milestones of the country's future path. That is why it is important to try to understand this complex, contradictory personality, which bore a clear imprint of psychological non-standard, since this non-standard was generated by the totality of realities not only personal, but also public life Tsar-reformer, and she, in turn, left an indelible mark on the fate of Russia.

The purpose of this work is to analyze the activities of the reforms of Peter I and its significance for the Russian state.

Prerequisites for Peter's reforms

In the 17th century As a result of the activities of the first representatives of the Romanov dynasty, the socio-economic and political crisis of the state and society caused by the events of the Time of Troubles was overcome. At the end of the 17th century, a trend toward the Europeanization of Russia emerged, and the prerequisites for future Peter's reforms emerged. Researcher V.N. Rodenkov names the following as the most important of them:

1) a tendency towards the absolutization of supreme power (liquidation of the activities of Zemsky Sobors as estate-representative bodies), the inclusion of the word “autocrat” in the royal title;

2) registration of national legislation (Conciliar Code of 1649). Further improvement of the code of laws associated with the adoption of new articles (in 1649-1690, 1535 decrees were adopted supplementing the Code);

3) intensification of foreign policy and diplomatic activities of the Russian state;

4) reorganization and improvement of the armed forces (creation of foreign regiments, changes in the order of recruitment and recruitment into regiments, distribution of military corps among districts);

5) reforming and improving the financial and tax systems;

6) transition from craft production to manufacturing using elements of hired labor and simple mechanisms;

7) development of domestic and foreign trade (adoption of the “Charter of Customs” in 1653, “New Trade Charter” of 1667);

8) the demarcation of society under the influence of Western European culture and Nikon’s church reform; the emergence of national-conservative and Westernizing movements.

However, despite the emerging trend of Europeanization of Russia in the 17th century, in general it lagged significantly behind the level of development of Western European states. Significant foreign policy efforts of Russia in the 17th century. led to very modest results. Access to the Baltic and Black Seas was still closed. In order to fight on equal terms with the European powers and Ottoman Empire, it was necessary not just to borrow individual achievements of Europe, but to make the European economy and culture, the European way of life a special value. Only then would the modernization of life in Russia take on a truly broad scale, and the country could join the circle of European powers.

A strong personality appears on the historical arena, who possessed not only supreme power, but also an understanding of the need for change, courage and determination, intelligence, energy and talent as a transformer.

In the history of Peter's reforms, researchers distinguish two stages: before and after 1715. At the first stage, the reforms were mainly chaotic in nature and were caused primarily by the military needs of the state related to the conduct of the Northern War, were carried out mainly by violent methods and were accompanied by active government intervention in economic affairs. Many reforms were ill-conceived and hasty, which was caused both by failures in the war and by the lack of personnel, experience, and pressure from the old conservative apparatus of power. At the second stage, when military operations had already been transferred to enemy territory, the transformations became more systematic. The apparatus of power was further strengthened, manufactories no longer only served military needs, but also produced consumer goods for the population, state regulation of the economy weakened somewhat, and traders and entrepreneurs were given a certain freedom of action.

The goal of the reforms was for Russia to acquire the role of one of the leading world powers, capable of competing with Western countries militarily and economically. The main tool for carrying out reforms was consciously used violence. The pace of transformation depended on the urgency of solving a particular problem facing the state. At the same time, some transformations often necessitated others, because a radical change in one area, as a rule, required immediate reconstruction in another or the creation of new structures and institutions.