The results of the reforming activities of Peter I. Reasons, goals and results of the reforming activities of Peter I The period of the Great reign

Active transformative activity of Peter I began immediately after returning from abroad.

What were the goals of Peter's reforms? I?

Radical Petrine transformations, according to A.B. Kamensky, were "a response to a comprehensive internal crisis, the crisis of traditionalism that befell the Russian state in the second half of XVII in.". The reforms were supposed to ensure the progress of the country, to eliminate the backlog of it from Western Europe, preserve and strengthen independence, put an end to the "old Moscow in the traditional way life."

The reforms covered many spheres of life. Their sequence was determined, first of all, needs Northern wars, which lasted more than twenty years (1700-1721). In particular, the war forced to urgently create a new efficient army and navy. Therefore, the main reform was the military.

Before Peter I the basis of the Russian army was the noble militia. At the call of the tsar, the servants appeared "on horseback, in crowds and in arms." Such an army was poorly trained, poorly organized. Attempts to create a regular army (Streltsy regiments of Ivan IV , regiments of the “foreign system” of Alexei Mikhailovich) did not have much success due to the lack of money in the treasury for their maintenance. In 1705 Peter I introduced recruiting sets from taxable estates (peasants, townspeople). Recruits were recruited one at a time from twenty households. Soldier service was lifelong (in 1793 Catherine II limited it to 25 years). Before 1725 83 recruiting was carried out. They gave the army and navy 284 thousand people.

Recruitment kits solved the problem of the rank and file. To solve the problem of the officer corps, a reform of the estates was carried out. Boyars and nobles united into a single service estate(initially it was called the nobility, but later the name nobility). Each representative of the service class was obliged to serve from the age of 15 (the only privilege was that the nobles served in the guards regiments - Semenovsky and Preobrazhensky). Only after passing the exam could a nobleman be promoted to officer. Nobles stopped receiving estates for service. Now they were paid a salary. Refusal to serve led to the confiscation of the estate. In 1714 was published" Decree about uniform inheritance”, according to which the estate was inherited only by one of the sons, and the rest had to earn a livelihood. For the training of officers, schools were opened - navigation, artillery, engineering.

In 1722 by decree of the king, the so-called. " report card about ranks". 14 military and equivalent civilian ranks were introduced. Each officer or official, having started his service from the lower ranks, depending on his diligence and intellect, could move up the career ladder up to the very top. The way was not closed to representatives of the taxable estates. A soldier could receive an officer's rank for bravery and automatically acquired personal nobility. Having risen to the eighth rank, he became a hereditary nobleman - the nobility began to be given to his children. Now the position in society was determined not only by his origin, but also place in official hierarchy. The main principle was - "He is not a nobleman who does not serve."

Thus, a rather complex military-bureaucratic hierarchy was formed with the king at the head. All estates were in the public service, bearing duties in favor of the state.

As a result of the reforms of Peter I were created regular army, numbering 212 thousand people and powerful fleet(48 battleships and 800 galleys with 24 thousand sailors).

Maintenance of the army and navy absorbed 2/3 of the state income. I had to find more and more new sources of income for the treasury. Taxes were the most important means of replenishing the treasury. Under Peter I indirect taxes were introduced (on oak coffins, for wearing Russian dresses, on beards, etc.). In order to increase the collection of taxes, a tax reform was carried out. Before Petra I the unit of taxation was the peasant yard(farm). Peasants, in order to pay less taxes, huddled several families into one yard - grandfathers, fathers, brothers, grandchildren, great-grandchildren lived together. Peter replaced the household tax poll. The unit of taxation is soul male gender, from infants to the elderly.

In 1710 was held census all hard-working people, both state and landowners. All of them were taxed. Was introduced passport system No one could leave their place of residence without a passport. Thus, the final enslavement Total population and not just landlord peasants. In European countries, there was nothing like a passport system*. With the introduction of the poll tax, per capita taxes increased three times on average.

Constant wars (out of 36 years of his reign, Peter I fought for 28 years), radical reforms dramatically increased the burden on central and local authorities. The old state machine was unable to cope with the new tasks and began to falter.

Peter I spent reorganization of the entire system of power and administration. In pre-Petrine Russia, laws were adopted by the tsar together with the Boyar Duma. After the approval of the tsar, the decisions of the Duma took the force of law. Peter stopped convening the Boyar Duma, and decided all the most important matters in the Middle Office, which was called from 1708. "Consilium of Ministers", i.e. with a narrow circle of confidants. Thereby, legislative branch power was liquidated. Laws were formalized by decrees of the king.

In 1711 was created ruling Senate. Unlike the Boyar Duma, the Senate did not pass laws. His functions were purely control. The Senate was given the task of supervising the bodies of local government, checking the compliance of the actions of the administration with the laws issued by the tsar. The members of the Senate were appointed by the king. Since 1722 position was introduced general-prosecutor, who was appointed by the king to control the work of the Senate ("the sovereign's eye"). In addition, the institute fiscals”, obliged to secretly check and report on the abuses of officials.

In 1718-1720. Was held collegiate reform, which replaced the system of orders with new central bodies of sectoral management - colleges. The collegiums were not subordinate to each other and extended their action to the territory of the whole country. The internal structure of the collegium was based on a collegial, clear regulation of the duties of officials, the stability of full-time employees. In total, 11 collegiums were created (instead of 50 orders): Military, Admiralty, Chamber Collegium, Revision Collegium, Justice Collegium, Kammerz Collegium, State Offices Collegium, Berg, Manufactory Collegium, Collegium of Foreign Affairs. The most important “state” colleges were those in charge of foreign and military affairs. Another group of colleges dealt with finance; revenues of the Chambers - board; expenses - State - offices - collegium; control over the collection and spending of funds - the Audit Board. Trade and industry were led, respectively, by the Commerce Collegium and Berg, the Manufactory Collegium, which was divided into two departments in 1722. In 1721 The patrimonial board was created, which was engaged in land ownership of the nobility and was located in Moscow. Another estate college was created in 1720, the Chief Magistrate, who controlled the urban estate - artisans and merchants.

The system of local government was reorganized. In 1707 issued a decree of the king, according to which the whole country was divided into provinces. Initially there were six of them - Moscow, Kiev, Smolensk, Azov, Kazan, Arkhangelsk. Then there were ten of them - the Ingrian (Petersburg)*and Siberian, and Kazan - is divided into Nizhny Novgorod and Astrakhan. At the head of the provinces were appointed by the king governors. The governors had broad powers, exercised administrative, judicial power, and controlled the collection of taxes. The provinces were divided into provinces with governors at the head, and the provinces were divided into counties, counties into districts, abolished later.

The reforms of central and local government were supplemented by church reform. Before Petra I Russian Orthodox Church headed patriarch elected by the higher clergy. Although Orthodox Church recognized the primacy of the state over the church, however, the power of the patriarch was still quite large. The patriarch, like the king, bore the title " great sovereign' enjoyed great independence. Reforms of Peter I , his desire to borrow Western customs, clothes, appearance, the dominance of foreigners in the royal court - all this caused discontent of the church. To limit its influence, Peter in 1721. abolished patriarchate. Instead, a collegium for church affairs was created - Holy Synod. The members of the Synod were appointed by the tsar from among the higher clergy, at the head of the Synod was appointed by the sovereign ober-prosecutor. Secret control over the activities of the Synod was exercised by the Chief Fiscal for Spiritual Affairs. Thus, the church was finally subordinate state, became part of the state apparatus, to the point that priests were required to immediately report all anti-government plans that became known during confession. This role of the church continued until 1917.

Thus, Peter I created a harmonious, centralized system of power and administration: autocrat - Senate - boards - provinces - provinces - counties. It was supplemented by the same coherent system of control (Preobrazhensky order, fiscality), punitive bodies (Secret Chancellery, police) 22 September 1721 (on the day of the solemn celebration of the Peace of Nishtad, which marked the end of a long and difficult for Russia Northern war), the Senate assigned Peter I titles " Emperor», « Father Fatherland" And " Great". This act completed the process of transforming the estate-representative monarchy into an absolute one. Unlimited power of Peter I received legal consolidation, and Russia turned into empire.

Economic policy of Peter I also aimed at strengthening military power country. Along with taxes, the most important source of funds for the maintenance of the army and navy was domestic and foreign trade. In foreign trade, Peter I consistently pursued a policy of mercantilism. Its essence: the export of goods must always exceed their import. Such a policy ensured a positive trade balance, which led to the accumulation of money in the treasury.

To implement the policy of mercantilism, state control over trade was necessary. It was carried out by the Kammerz Collegium. The means of implementing the policy of mercantilism were high duties on imported goods, reaching 60%. For trade in a number of goods that brought the greatest profit (salt, tobacco, flax, leather, caviar, bread, etc.), state monopoly Only the state could sell and buy them.

Merchants were forced to unite in trading companies, indicated which ports to transport goods, at what prices to sell them, forcibly relocated from one city to another. Such a policy solved the problems of protectionism - the protection of domestic producers from the competition of foreign goods. On the early stages modernization policy of protectionism was fully justified. However, its long-term preservation could lead to the fact that, in the absence of competition, manufacturers would no longer care about the quality of goods and reduce their cost.

An important component of Peter's reforms was the rapid development of industry. This was due to the fact that it was impossible to supply the army and navy with everything necessary without a powerful industrial base. Under Peter I industry, especially those industries that worked for defense, made a breakthrough in its development. New factories were built, the metallurgical and mining industries developed. close-up industrial center became the Urals. By 1712 the army and navy were fully provided with weapons of their own production. By the end of Peter's reign I in Russia there were over 200 manufactories, ten times more than before him.

Iron smelting increased from 150,000 poods in 1700. up to 800 thousand pounds in 1725 Russian pig iron from the Ural factories was exported even to England.

A typical feature of the economy of the time of Peter the Great was gain roles states in industrial leadership. Manufactory production could not develop in a natural way, since economic conditions were not ripe for this - the process of primitive accumulation was at the very beginning. Therefore, most manufactories were built with public money and belonged to the state. Almost all manufactories worked on state orders. Often the state itself built new factories, and then transferred them to private hands. But if the plant owner did not cope with the business - he gave expensive and low-quality products - the plant could be taken away and transferred to another owner. Such enterprises were called "possession" (ownership). It is no coincidence that Russian breeders were called "factory owners". The Russian factory owners of the time of Peter the Great were not capitalist entrepreneurs in the Western sense. They were rather landowners, only the plant played the role of the estate.

This similarity was especially vividly demonstrated by the way in which the question of working strength. As a result of the tax reform, serfdom became universal, the entire taxable population was attached to the land, and there were no free laborers. Therefore, Russian industry was based on use serf labor. Entire villages of state peasants were assigned to factories. They had to work for 2-3 months a year at the factory for corvée (mining ore, burning coal, etc.). These peasants were called ascribed. In 1721 Peter I issued a decree allowing factory owners to buy peasant property for work at the factory. These workers were called sessional. Consequently, manufactories under Peter I , well technically equipped, were not capitalist enterprises, but feudal-serf enterprises.

Particularly impressive were the transformations of Peter I in the region of education, science and technology, culture And life.

The restructuring of the entire education system was due to the need to train a large number of qualified specialists, who were in dire need of the country. The introduction of secular education in Russia took place almost 600 years after Western Europe. In 1699 Pushkar school was founded in Moscow, and in 1701. in the building of the Sukharev Tower, a “school of mathematical and navigational sciences” was opened, which became the predecessor of the school founded in 1715. Petersburg Maritime Academy. During the time of Peter the Great, the Medical School was opened (1707), as well as engineering, shipbuilding, navigational, mining and craft schools. In the province, primary education was carried out in 42 digital schools, where local officials were trained, and garrison schools, where soldiers' children were taught. In 1703-1715. in Moscow there was a special general education school - the "gymnasium" of pastor E. Gluck, in which they taught mainly foreign languages. In 1724 A mining school was opened in Yekaterinburg. She trained specialists for the mining industry of the Urals.

Secular education required new textbooks. In 1703 “Arithmetic, that is, the science of numerals ...” was published by L.F. Magnitsky, who introduced Arabic numerals instead of alphabetic ones. Magnitsky and English mathematician A. Farvarson released "Tables of logarithms and sines". The Primer, Slavic Grammar and other books appeared. In the creation of new textbooks and teaching aids a great contribution was made by F.P. Polikarpov, G.G. Skornyakov-Pisarev, F. Prokopovich.

The development of science and technology in the time of Peter the Great was based primarily on the practical needs of the state. Great successes were achieved in geodesy, hydrography and cartography, in the study of the bowels and the search for minerals, in inventive business. M. Serdyukov was known for his achievements in the construction of hydraulic structures; Ya. Batishchev invented a machine for turning gun barrels with water; E. Nikonov presented a project for the creation of "hidden ships" (submarines); A. Nartov, the inventor of lathes and screw-cutting machines, the creator of an optical sight, was a famous mechanic of the time of Peter the Great.

Initiated by Peter I began collecting scientific collections. In 1718 a decree was issued ordering the population to present “both human and bestial, animal and bird freaks”, as well as “old inscriptions on stones, iron or copper, or some old unusual gun, dishes and everything else that is very old and unusual”. In 1719 The Kunstkamera, a collection of “rarities”, was opened for public viewing, which served as the basis for the collection of future museums: the Hermitage, the Artillery Museum, the Naval Museum, and others. In Petersburg academies Sciences. It was opened after the death of Peter I in 1725

During the reign of Peter I the Western European chronology was introduced (from the Nativity of Christ, and not from the creation of the world, as before)*. Printing houses, a newspaper appeared (from December 1702, the first periodical in Russia began to appear - the newspaper Vedomosti, with a circulation of 100 to 2500 copies). Libraries, a theater in Moscow, and much more were established.

A characteristic feature of Russian culture under Peter I its state character. Culture, art, education, science, Peter assessed from the standpoint of the benefits brought to the state. Therefore, the state financed and encouraged the development of those areas of culture that were considered most necessary. The work of a writer, actor, artist, teacher, scientist was turned into a variety of public service provided with a salary. Culture provided certain social functions.

The second characteristic feature of Russian culture, which developed in the time of Peter I became civilizational split Russian society. Western customs, clothing, lifestyle, even language were actively borrowed. But all this was the lot of the service class - the nobility. The lower classes (peasantry, merchants) preserved the traditional culture. The upper and lower classes differed even externally. In essence, two cultures existed independently of each other in Russian culture: Western - noble, and traditional, soil - peasant, opposing each other.

* Passports were abolished in Russia in 1917. and reintroduced in 1932.

* In 1713, Peter I moved the capital of Russia from Moscow to St. Petersburg.

* Peter I, in order not to enter into unnecessary contention with the Orthodox Church, introduced the Julian calendar, although Europe lived according to the Gregorian. Hence the difference of 13 days, which lasted until 1918. The Russian Orthodox Church still lives according to the Julian calendar.

Russia at the end of the 17th century, by the very course of historical development, was faced with the need for fundamental reforms, since only in this way could it secure a worthy place among the states of the West and East. Its backwardness was a serious danger to the independence of the Russian people. Industry in its structure was serf-owning, and in terms of output it was significantly inferior to the industry of Western European countries. The Russian army for the most part consisted of a backward noble militia and archers, poorly armed and trained. The complex and clumsy ordering state apparatus, headed by the boyar aristocracy, did not meet the needs of the country. Enlightenment hardly penetrated the masses of the people, and even in the ruling circles there were many uneducated and completely illiterate people.

The renewal of Russia, carried out by Peter, was his personal affair, an unprecedentedly violent affair, but at the same time necessary. The reforms affected literally all aspects of the life of the Russian state and the Russian people.

There are different views on the consequences of the reforms of Peter the Great.

In a letter to the French Ambassador to Russia Louis XIV He spoke of Peter this way: “This sovereign reveals his aspirations by his concerns about preparing for military affairs and about the discipline of his troops, about training and enlightening his people, about attracting foreign officers and all kinds of capable people. This course of action and the increase in power, which is the greatest in Europe, make him formidable to his neighbors and arouse very thorough envy."

Voltaire also wrote repeatedly about Peter. Voltaire defines the main value of Peter's reforms as the progress that the Russians have achieved in 50 years, other nations cannot achieve this even in 500.

Westerners also positively assessed the reforms of Peter the Great, thanks to which Russia became a great power and joined the European civilization.

Well-known public figure P.N. Milyukov, in his works, develops the idea that the reforms were carried out by Peter spontaneously, from time to time, under the pressure of specific circumstances, without any logic and plan, they were "reforms without a reformer." He also mentions that only "at the cost of ruining the country, Russia was elevated to the rank of a European power." According to Milyukov, during the reign of Peter the Great, the population of Russia within the boundaries of 1695 decreased due to incessant wars.

All state activity of Peter I can be conditionally divided into two periods: 1696-1715 and 1715-1725.

The peculiarity of the first stage was the haste and not always thoughtful nature, which was explained by the conduct of the Northern War. The reforms were aimed primarily at raising funds for warfare, were carried out by force and often did not lead to the desired result. In addition to state reforms, extensive reforms were carried out at the first stage in order to modernize the way of life.

In the second period, the reforms were more systematic and aimed at the internal arrangement of the state.

Medieval Moscow Rus turned into the Russian Empire. Huge changes have taken place in its economy, the level and forms of development of productive forces, the political system, the structure and functions of government, administration and courts, the organization of the army, the class and estate structure of the population, the culture of the country and the way of life of the people. The place of Russia and its role in the international relations of that time changed radically.

The complexity and inconsistency of Russia's development during this period also determined the inconsistency of Peter's activities and the reforms he carried out. On the one hand, they had great historical significance, since they contributed to the progress of the country and were aimed at eliminating its backwardness. On the other hand, they were carried out by the feudal lords, using feudal methods, and were aimed at strengthening their dominance. Therefore, the progressive transformations of the time of Peter the Great from the very beginning carried conservative features, which, in the course of the further development of the country, became stronger and could not ensure the elimination of socio-economic backwardness. As a result of Peter's transformations, Russia quickly caught up with those European countries where the dominance of feudal-serf relations was preserved, but it could not catch up with the countries that embarked on the capitalist path of development. The transformative activity of Peter was distinguished by indomitable energy, unprecedented scope and purposefulness, courage in breaking obsolete institutions, laws, foundations and way of life and way of life. Perfectly understanding the great importance of the development of trade and industry, Peter carried out a number of measures that satisfied the interests of the merchants. But he also strengthened and consolidated the serfdom, substantiated the regime of autocratic despotism.

In general, Peter's reforms were aimed at strengthening Russian state and the familiarization of the ruling stratum with Western European culture with the simultaneous strengthening of the absolute monarchy. By the end of the reign of Peter the Great, a powerful Russian empire was created, headed by the emperor, who had absolute power. In the course of the reforms, the technical and economic backwardness of Russia from a number of other European states was overcome, access to Baltic Sea, transformations were carried out in all spheres of life Russian society. At the same time, the people's forces were extremely exhausted, the bureaucratic apparatus grew, the prerequisites (Decree of Succession) were created for the crisis of the supreme power, which led to the era of "palace coups".

The reforms of Peter I split the Russian society, led to the formation of two different ways. One of them, according to the terminology of V.O. Klyuchevsky, called "soil", the other - "civilization".

“Soil” is a way of life, the main features of which were formed in the conditions of the Muscovite kingdom. It was dominated by a community-corporate structure, vertical ties, relations of subjects

stva. Development was slow and tended to stagnation. The vast majority of the population was associated with this way of life, primarily the communal peasantry, which was dependent on the landowner or the state. Collectivism, leveling principles dominated here.

principles of social justice, anti-proprietary sentiments.

All aspects of the soil structure were determined by Russian Orthodoxy. The Church urged to focus on the spiritual side of life, to renounce earthly worries and burdens, to humbly bear one's cross. She condemned the desire for profit as the goal of economic activity, and did not agree to recognize entrepreneurship as a charitable activity. The anti-market orientation of Orthodoxy is obvious.

Soil developed the richest traditions of folk culture: songs, legends, epics, folk rituals. There was its own system of education, which ensured the continuity of the tradition.

The “soil” was a way of life that also prevailed in terms of volume: the majority of the population was associated with it. The worldview here was determined by Russian Orthodoxy and the traditions of communality.

"Civilization" is a way of life of the Western type. It included only a small part of Russia, mostly literate and active. As part of this structure, modernization began public life: formation class structure, development of entrepreneurship, market relations, the emergence of professional intelligentsia. But this way of life was imposed by the state, it was controlled by it, it was not ordained.

ganic for society, and therefore was not in full sense words for

fallen. It was significantly deformed.

The outlook of this part of the population became rationalistic. The personal principle received impulses for its development, and social ideals were formed under the influence of European education, European thinkers. European achievements began to boil in the cauldron of national culture: the ideas of the French enlighteners and socialists, the achievements of the latest philosophy and science.

However, the possibilities for the rationalization of consciousness and the individualization of society were limited. Pressed corporatism and a powerful state. The state intervened in everything, pointed out

what to produce, what to trade, in which ports to unload goods, where to live, etc. The formation of the market was slower than it was possible with the resources of the country. The circle of owners, people with capital, was narrow. The stratum of small and medium-sized proprietors practically did not grow. There was no small private ownership of land.

Lack of a developed market for hired labor, competition

among workers held back the growth of skills, reduced the growth of production. V 1721 Peter I issued a decree allowing private entrepreneurs to buy serfs to work in factories. Labor is strong

This method was extremely inefficient, and therefore the way of solving this issue can be considered Asian. In most European countries in the seventeenth century. much softer than in Russia, serfdom was abolished. in Russia in the seventeenth century. serfs were not only peasants, but also a new class of workers. Allegiance relations remained unchanged.

The Western way of life in Russia had strong eastern features. Competition in the industry was very weak. All entrepreneurs were obliged to fulfill, first of all, government orders. Everything that was produced in excess of the state order was sold on the free market. The lack of competition did not provide incentives for improving technology and production in general.

The culture of the Western way was secular: theater, literature, painting - everything developed on a rational basis. Despite the fact that Western culture of the secular type began to take shape in Russia only with early XVIII century, that is, relatively recently, in a short historical period, it has reached unprecedented heights. The culture of the "soil" as a whole was little studied and was unknown to "civilized" Russia. The Western way, despite state control, in comparison with the "soil" developed dynamically, was leading in importance. It was its development that determined Russia's place in the world.

Between "soil" and "civilization" there was an abyss. Within the framework of one state, two societies coexisted, possessing different values and ideals that follow different paths of development. The gap in the levels of development of these ways was constantly increasing. Confrontation between the two ways of life from top to bottom, the constant threat of violating social harmony and sliding into civil war were an everyday reality and the most important factor in social development during the 18th–20th centuries. Society was constantly faced with a choice: either the “soil” and, therefore, the eastern type of development, as happened during the reign of Ivan the Terrible, or the European path and the revival of traditions Kievan Rus, Republican Novgorod.

Thus, the reforms of Peter I had large-scale long-term consequences, which have a tangible effect in modern Russia. The legacy of Peter the Great for almost three centuries causes controversy and ambiguous assessments. Westerners argued that Russia owed all the best in its history to Peter I, he made the state European, reunited Russia with Europe.

Supporters of the "soil" (they are called Slavophiles) argued the opposite: Peter I changed national beginning in the history of Russia, distorted Russian culture by borrowing from the West and harmed the natural course of the country's development.

Decembrist historian M.A. Fonvizin assessed the Petrine era in the following way: “If Peter tried to introduce European civilization into Russia, then he was attracted by a more external side. The spirit of this civilization, the spirit of lawful freedom and citizenship, was alien to him, the despot, and even repugnant. Dreaming of re-educating his subjects, he did not think of instilling in them a high sense of human dignity, without which there is neither true morality nor virtue. He needed capable tools for material improvements on the models seen abroad.

Results transformative activities Peter I are as follows:

1. Russia received access to the Baltic Sea and thus entered the environment of European peoples.

2. Created a first-class army and navy.

3. A new apparatus of state power has been created, more suitable

ny for society than the old system of orders.

4. A large industry was created, which made Russia an eco-

nomically independent from other countries.

5. The foundations of secular Russian culture have been laid.

6. A start has been made on the creation of a system of national education

vaniya and medicine.

7. The church is subordinate to the state, the patriarchate is liquidated.

8. Russia became an empire.

Among the noteworthy personalities associated with the unforgettable pages of the annals of the state, there are many sonorous names, but the deeds of Peter the Great deserve special attention.

As well as the methods and styles by which they were achieved, the results of the reign of Peter 1 are ambiguous. There are enough adherents of his reformist practices, despite the fact that the goals outlined in them were achieved by the most severe exploitation, coercion. There are many critics who assert that the threshold of backwardness of the Russian State has not been overcome. But, in any case, it is impossible to underestimate key role this Great ruler in the formation of Russia as a state with a fundamentally new regime of government.

Drawing a line under the activities of Peter the Great

So, summing up the results of the reign of Peter 1, first of all, it should be noted that the main set of his activities is determined by the change in the ruling regime of power. By titanic efforts, a coherent mechanism for governing the state was achieved, a stronghold of a powerful, strong, victorious fleet and army was founded. Like a Phoenix bird, the country's economy, resurrected from the ashes, not only loudly declared itself in the entire world trade space, but also got the opportunity to exert considerable influence on certain issues of world politics. For some, the regime seemed absolutism, but it was precisely this interpretation of it that radically changed the essence of governance.

Without changing the principles of the captain in life, Peter 1 managed to transform a huge, unbridled country into a military ship, where the captain's absolute command determines the success of the maneuver. The crown of transformations was characterized by the changes of 1721, when Russia tried on the new title "Empire", and the sovereign himself began to be called the Emperor.

Thanks to the extraordinary data of the autocrat, Russia did not just overcome swampy places. Without running aground, masterfully bypassing the reefs, reefs, she victoriously entered the expanses of the seething world ocean.

Period of the Great Reign

Undoubtedly, the years of the reign of Peter 1 are called difficult, but managed to take a worthy place in history. The baptism of fire occurred in deep childhood, when the Streltsy rebellion began in Moscow, made an indelible impression on the future monarch. Forced to stay with his mother in the villages belonging to the palace family, the teenager did not waste time. A sweet childhood passion for military craft was transformed into a serious transformation of the regiments of Semenovsky and Preobrazhensky, many times superior in number and skill to the army of archers.

The history of the reign of Peter 1 began with the revival of a poor, backward, devastated country, with no definite prospects for the future. The rehabilitation path was chosen hard, different from the European reformation of society, when changes came from the bottom, from the poorly protected sections of society to its top. The so-called path in Russian assumed the dictatorship of the ruling layer of power, with a gradual increase in the degree of despotism, at each new round of development.

The very activity of the leader, the commander can conditionally be divided into several periods. During the first, which covers the time period from 1695 to 1715, rash decisions often took place. The only reasoned explanation for this can be the Northern War, in which Russia was drawn. Hence the hasty, not always justified actions. The need to equip the army became the prerequisite for a hard way of collecting money for these purposes.

The time frame of the second period of reign falls on the years 1715-1725. The main goal of the sovereign's activity provided for the need for internal reorganization of the country. To this end, a number of reforms were carried out, lightning-fast, superficial, but as a result they turned out to be quite effective.

Reformatory transformations in Russia

Describing in general positively the reforms of Peter 1, it is briefly necessary to note a number of the most significant changes that affected various spheres of economic and industrial activity of the country.

Changes in government

The prototype of the future Senate of the Government can be considered the creation of the Council of Ministers, which assumed the duties of the Duma of the Boyars, which had long lost confidence, and the effectiveness of its meetings was reduced to zero. The direct goals of the Council included managing the collection and spending of funds, with the obligatory consideration of the feasibility of future costs. Moreover, the priority direction has always been the equipment of the army.

The transformation of the executive power provided for the creation of 11 colleges, the forefathers of the current ministries.

The policy of Peter 1 assumed the strengthening of local self-government, which was facilitated by the division of the Russian state into several provinces, each of which was headed by a governor. In the initial interpretation, the decrees did not lead to anything other than additional costs for the maintenance of the administrative apparatus. But the second wave of reforms turned out to be more effective, which really made it possible to formalize an absolute monarchy, in a strong tandem with the bureaucratic apparatus, on which the ruler relied.

Denunciations and secret denunciations formed the basis of control over the activities of civil servants in order to convict them of embezzlement, bribery, and corruption.

Transformation of the army, navy

It was possible to achieve the creation of a powerful regular army and a powerful navy thanks to the experience of foreign specialists. It was he who formed the basis of the Naval Academy, which opened to educate its own officers, recruited from their nobility.

Competent training of the general set of recruits is similar to that on which the formation of the Semenovsky and Preobrazhensky regiments proceeded, ended in triumph Russian army in the Northern War.

Church - Reformed Innovations

Touched upon the policy of Peter 1 church reform, providing for the improvement of the hierarchy of church management. The Holy Synod replaced the activities of the patriarchate, and the autonomy of the clergy was abolished. The church passed into unquestioning submission to the state.

There has been a strong trend towards religious tolerance. The green light was given to faiths and denominations other than Christianity.

Economic transformation

Russia under Peter 1 received a new monetary unit - a penny, the household tax was replaced by a poll tax. This made it possible to increase the collection of funds for the restoration and maintenance of the army. Not only representatives of peasants, but also landowners fell under the tax.

Industry, trade - the principle of cardinal reform

The misfortune of the Russian industry was a clear lack of qualified specialists. The results of the reign of Peter 1 on the development of this branch of economic activity of the state were marked by the involvement of specialists from abroad, as well as the training and advanced training of their own forces abroad. By the way, this gave rise to the development of another sphere - education.

The domestic manufacturer became a priority, but a significant tax was imposed on foreign-made products.

The result of the transformations was more than convincing - the first place of the Russian state in the vast world industrial market.

Social Policy Transformations

Russia under Peter 1 ceased to be known as a serf power, since the reforms of his reign provided for the transfer of part of the serfs to the category of personally free.

Peasants could be attached to manufacturing establishments, working on them, or on the land.

The principle of place management has changed. The introduced city self-government was represented by the City Magistrate, who had an elective character.

The results of the reign of Peter 1 are more than obvious. Transformations never went smoothly, especially in the conditions of a country that fell into anarchy, which neighboring states tried to occupy.

However, the reforms of Peter 1 briefly speak about the extraordinary abilities of the ruler, who were able to direct Russia to a fundamentally new path of development, which became an important factor for all future generations.

Send your good work in the knowledge base is simple. Use the form below

Students, graduate students, young scientists who use the knowledge base in their studies and work will be very grateful to you.

Vconducting

The period of the reign of Peter the Great (his transformations and reforms) is accompanied by the complexity and inconsistency of the historical development of the country at that time. On the one hand, his actions were of great progressive significance, they met the national interests and needs, contributed to a significant acceleration of the country's historical development and were aimed at eliminating its backwardness. On the other hand, they were carried out by feudal lords, using feudal methods and were aimed at strengthening their dominance. That is why the progressive transformations of the time of Peter the Great from the very beginning carried conservative features, which later came out more and more strongly. As a result of the transformations of Peter I, Russia was rapidly catching up with the development of European countries, in which the dominance of feudal-serf relations prevailed.

This complexity and inconsistency manifested itself with all its force in the transformative activity of Peter I, which was distinguished by inexhaustible energy, unprecedented scope, courage in breaking the already established laws, foundations, way of life and way of life. Perfectly understanding the importance of the development of trade and industry, Peter I carried out a number of measures that corresponded to the interests of the merchants. But he also strengthened the serfdom, substantiated the regime of autocratic despotism. The actions of Peter I were distinguished not only by decisiveness, but also by extreme cruelty.

1. Formpersonality of Peter the Great

Peter the Great was born on May 30, 1672. On this day, thanksgiving prayers were served throughout Moscow, and cannons were fired. The happy father, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov, forgave government debts, gave gifts to his neighbors, and canceled harsh sentences for criminals. From everywhere people with all kinds of gifts went to the royal palace.

Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich had great hopes for his youngest son. He himself was married a second time to Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina. From his first marriage with Marya Miloslavskaya, he already had three children - Fedor, Ivan and Sophia. But they were not able to translate their father's plans into reality, since one of them was sick and the other weak-minded.

Until the death of his father, Tsar Alexei, Peter lived as a darling in the royal family. He was only three and a half years old when his father died. Tsar Fedor was the godfather of his little brother and loved him very much. He kept Peter with him in the great Moscow palace and took care of his education. In 1676 Alexei Mikhailovich died. Peter was then three and a half years old, and his older brother Fedor ascended the throne, but in 1782 he also died, leaving no heirs to the throne.

Soon, Patriarch Joachim and the boyars proclaimed the younger Tsarevich Peter, who at that time was 10 years old, as king. However, the rights of Tsarevich Ivan were violated and his relatives could not come to terms with what had happened. The most intelligent and decisive among them were Princess Sofya Alekseevna and the boyar Ivan Mikhailovich Miloslavsky. Against their enemies - the Naryshkins, they raised an army of archers.

The archers were told that Tsarevich Ivan had been strangled and they were given a list of "traitor-boyars" in their hands. In response to this, the archers began an open rebellion. On May 15, 1682, armed, they came to the Kremlin. Tsarina Natalya Kirillovna led Tsar Peter and Tsarevich Ivan to the Red Porch of the Palace and showed them to the archers. However, the latter did not calm down, broke into the royal palace and in front of the members royal family boyar Matveev and many relatives of Queen Natalia were brutally murdered.

Peter, being an eyewitness to these bloody scenes, caused surprise with his stamina - standing on the Red Porch, when the archers picked up Matveev and his supporters on spears, he did not change his face. But the May horrors are indelibly engraved in the memory of Peter, probably from here both the well-known nervousness and his hatred of the archers originate.

A week after the start of the rebellion - on May 23, the winners demanded from the government that both brothers be appointed kings, and a week later, at the new demand of the archers, for the youth of the kings, the reign was handed over to Princess Sophia. Peter's party was excluded from any participation in public affairs.

After these events, Tsaritsa Natalia, together with her son, left for the village of Preobrazhenskoye near Moscow. Peter has been addicted to war games since childhood. There he formed two “amusing” battalions from his peers, which in the future became real military units - the Semenovsky and Preobrazhensky regiments - the main guard of Peter. Foreign officers were engaged in their training, and Peter himself went through all the soldier ranks, starting with a drummer. With great interest, the king began to study arithmetic, geometry, and military sciences, which were taught to him by the Dutchman Timmerman. The surviving notebooks of Peter testify to his persistent efforts to assimilate the applied side of arithmetical, astronomical and artillery wisdom: the same notebooks show that these wisdom remained a mystery to Peter. But turning art and pyrotechnics have always been Peter's favorite pastimes. Peter's passion for boats and ships is widely known. After Peter found an abandoned nautical boat in the village of Izmailovo and learned to sail on it, he went into this business and, under the guidance of the Dutch shipbuilder Brant, Peter sailed on his boat, first along the Yauza River, and then on Lake Pereyaslavsky, where he laid the first shipyard for the construction of ships. To many, this seemed like empty fun. Petra and its closeness to the Germans were condemned. Peter often visited the German settlement, because it was there that he could find explanations for many things that were incomprehensible to Russian people. Peter became especially close to the Scot Gordon, a general in the Russian service, a scientist, and to the Swiss Lefort, a colonel, a very capable and cheerful man. Under the influence of Lefort, Peter got used to noisy feasts and revelry. Unfortunately, neither Prince Boris Alekseevich Golitsyn, the tutor of Peter, nor his tutor Nikita Zotov, could keep the young tsar from revelry and noisy feasts.

Due to adverse conditions childhood, Peter was left without a proper education and instead of theological and scholastic knowledge, he acquired military-technical knowledge. The young sovereign was an unusual cultural type for Moscow society. He had no love for the old customs and orders of Moscow court life, but formed close relations with the "Germans". Peter did not like Sophia's government, he was afraid of the Miloslavskys and the archers, whom he considered Sophia's support and friends.

Princess Sophia considered Peter's military occupations to be foolish folly, but was pleased that he did not interfere in the royal affairs. For the time being, the mother also calmly treated her son's amusements, but then she decided that it was time for him to settle down, lead a life worthy royal rank and found him a bride. This was the mother's only major and unsuccessful intervention in Peter's private life. In 1689, before reaching his seventeenth birthday, Peter marries the daughter of the Moscow boyar Evdokia Lopukhina. Tsarina Natalya hoped to distract her son from empty amusements and make him more respectable. According to Russian custom, he was now considered an adult and could claim independent rule.

With his marriage, Peter did not change his habits. The dissimilarity of the characters of the spouses and the dislike of the court for Lopukhina explains the fact that Peter's love for his wife did not last very long, and then Peter began to prefer family life- marching, in the regimental hut of the Preobrazhensky regiment. A new occupation - shipbuilding - distracted him even further: from the Yauza, he, along with his ships, moved to Lake Pereyaslav and had fun there even in winter.

However, Princess Sophia did not want to lose power and raised archers against Peter. Peter found out about this at night and, as if in a nightgown, mounted a horse and rode off into the nearest forest, and from there to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. According to historians, this was the only case when he was mortally afraid for his life, remembering his childhood horror after the death of his father, when in front of his eyes the archers raised his own uncle on spears and killed his other relatives. From that time on, he developed a nervous tic and convulsions, which from time to time distorted his face and shook his body.

But soon Peter came to his senses and brutally crushed the uprising. As a result, Princess Sophia was exiled to the Novodevichy Convent, the most active supporters were executed, and the rest were sent to eternal hard labor. Thus began the reign of Peter.

2. Reforms of Peter the Great

In his reforms, Peter I could not adhere to a predetermined plan and exact sequence, because all his transformations took place under the pressure of military needs. this moment. And each of them gave rise to discontent, covert and open resistance, conspiracies and struggle, characterized by extreme bitterness on both sides.

The war with the Swedes took on a protracted character, was difficult, unprofitable and dangerous. Peter was fully involved in military affairs. He either fought in the forefront of his army, then rushed to Arkhangelsk and Voronezh in order to organize the defense of the northern and southern borders of the country from possible enemy attacks. Under such conditions, the ruler could not think of systematic reforms. His main concern was to get enough men to successfully continue the war. The war demanded regular troops: he was looking for ways to increase and better organize them, and this circumstance pushed him to reform military affairs and reorganize the nobility and, in particular, the noble service.

The war demanded money - and in the process of finding them, Peter became more and more aware of the need for a tax reform and changes in the situation of the peoples of the country and the peasantry as a whole. Under the pressure of military needs, Peter hastily made a number of innovations that destroyed the old order, but did not create anything new in government.

2.1 Reform of government and authorities

Of all the transformations of Peter, this reform occupied a central position. The old clerk's apparatus was not able to cope with the existing management tasks. The essence of the reform was reduced to the formation of a noble-bureaucratic centralized apparatus of absolutism.

All the fullness of legislative, executive and judicial power was concentrated in the hands of the king. In 1711, the Boyar Duma was replaced by the highest body of executive and judicial power - the Senate. Members of the Senate were appointed by the king on the basis of merit. In the exercise of executive power, the Senate issued resolutions - decrees that had the force of law. In 1722, the Prosecutor General was placed at the head of the Senate, who was entrusted with control over the activities of all government agencies. He carried out this control through prosecutors appointed in all government offices. To them was added a system of fiscals, headed by the chief fiscal. The duties of the fiscals included reporting on all abuses of institutions and officials and their violation of “public interest”.

In 1717-1718, the outdated system of orders was replaced by colleges. Each collegium was in charge of a particular branch or area of government. Three boards were considered the main ones: foreign, military and admiralty. Issues of trade and industry were in charge of: Commerce, Manufactory and Berg Collegiums. The last of them was in charge of metallurgy and mining. Three boards were in charge of finances: the Chamber Board - income, the State Board - expenses, and the Audit Board controlled the receipt of income, the collection of taxes, taxes, duties, the correctness of spending by the institutions of the amounts allocated to them. The College of Justice was in charge of civil proceedings, the Votchinnaya College, established somewhat later, was in charge of noble land ownership. To them was added the Chief Magistrate. A special place was occupied by the Theological College, or Synod, which governs the church. The boards received the right to issue decrees on those issues that they were in charge of.

In 1708, Peter for the first time introduced the division of the province into Russia. Several former counties were united into a province, and several provinces into a province. At the head of the province was the governor (or governor-general), subordinate to the Senate; at the head of the provinces and counties - governors. When they were elected from the nobility, landrats, later - zemstvo commissars, who helped them in managing the general council and in the counties.

The new management system secured the active participation of the nobility in the implementation of their dictatorship in the field. But at the same time she expanded the volume and forms of service of the nobles, which caused him discontent. Thus, after the reform, the state was ruled at the top by officials, and at the bottom by elected authorities, as before Peter. In general, the matter of management has become much more complicated, and not all parts have been sufficiently worked out.

2.2 Military reform

Military reform was badly needed. Peter gradually abolished the old type of troops. He destroyed the streltsy regiments immediately after the streltsy search in 1698. He gradually abolished the noble cavalry militias, recruiting the nobles to serve in the regular regiments.

Peter increased the number of regular regiments, gradually making them the main type of field troops. For the acquisition of these regiments, universal military service was introduced, universal for the nobles, recruiting for other classes. Only the families of the clergy were released from service. Also, Peter attached the Cossack troops to his army as a permanent component.

The results of Peter's military transformations were striking: at the end of his reign, he had an army in which there were about 200 thousand regular troops (field and garrison) and at least 75 thousand regular Cossacks; in addition, 28 thousand people served in the fleet, there were 48 large ships and up to 800 small ships.

2.3 Convertformations in the device of estates

1. Service class. The fight against the Swedes required the establishment of a regular army, and Peter gradually transferred all the nobles and service people to the regular service. The service for all service people became the same, they served without exception, indefinitely and began their service from the lower ranks.

All the former ranks of service people were united together, into one estate - the gentry. All the lower ranks could equally rise to higher ranks. The order of such length of service was precisely determined by the “Table of Ranks” (1722). In this table, all ranks were divided into 14 ranks or according to their seniority. Anyone who reached the lowest rank 14 could hope to take the highest position and the highest rank. The “Table of Ranks” replaced the principle of generosity with the principle of length of service and serviceability. But Peter made one concession to people from the upper old nobility. He allowed noble youth to enter predominantly in his favorite guards regiments Preobrazhensky and Semyonovsky.

Peter demanded that the nobles must learn to read and write and mathematics, and those who were not trained were deprived of the right to marry and receive an officer's rank. Peter limited the landowning rights of the nobles. He stopped giving them estates from the treasury when they entered the service, but provided them with a monetary salary. Noble patrimonies and estates were forbidden to be divided when transferred to sons (the law “On Majorate”, 1714).

Peter's measures regarding the nobility aggravated the position of this estate, but did not change its attitude towards the state. The nobility both before and now had to pay for the right to land ownership by service. But now the service has become harder, and land ownership more constrained. The nobility was indignant and demanded to ease their hardships. Peter severely punished attempts to evade service.

2. Urban estate (townspeople and city people). Before Peter I, the urban estate was a very small and poor class. Peter wanted to create an economically strong and active urban class in Russia, similar to what he saw in Western Europe.

Peter expanded the city self-government. In 1720, the chief magistrate was created, who was supposed to take care of the urban estate. All cities were divided according to the number of inhabitants into classes. Residents of cities were divided into "regular" and "irregular" ("mean") citizens. Regular citizens made up two "guilds": the first included representatives of the capital and the intelligentsia, the second - small merchants and artisans. Craftsmen were divided into "shops" according to crafts. Irregular people or "mean" were called unskilled workers. The city was governed by a magistrate of burgomasters, elected by all regular citizens. In addition, city affairs were discussed at town meetings or councils of regular citizens. Each city was subordinated to the main magistrate, bypassing any other local authorities.

Despite all the transformations, the Russian cities remained in the same miserable situation as they had been before. The reason for this was the structure of Russian life, far from the commercial and industrial system, and difficult wars.

3. Peasantry. In the first quarter of the century, it became clear that the household principle of taxation did not bring the expected increase in the receipt of taxes.

In order to increase their incomes, the landowners settled several peasant families in one yard. As a result, during the census in 1710, it turned out that the number of households had decreased by 20% since 1678 (instead of 791 thousand households in 1678 - 637 thousand in 1710). Therefore, a new principle of taxation was introduced. In 1718 - 1724. a census of the entire taxable male population is carried out, regardless of age and ability to work. All persons included in these lists (“revision tales”) had to pay 74 kopecks of poll tax per year. In the event of the death of the recorded person, the tax continued to be paid until the next revision, the family of the deceased or the community in which he was a member. In addition, all tax-paying estates, with the exception of the landlord peasants, paid the state 40 kopecks of quitrent, which was supposed to balance their duties with those of the landlord peasants.

The transition to per capita taxation increased the figure of direct taxes from 1.8 to 4.6 million, accounting for more than half of the budget receipts (8.5 million). The introduction of the poll tax increased the power of the landlords over the peasants, since the submission of revision tales and the collection of taxes were entrusted to the landowners.

In addition to the poll tax, the peasant paid a huge amount of various taxes and fees designed to replenish the treasury, which was empty as a result of wars, the creation of a cumbersome and expensive apparatus of power and administration, the regular army and navy, the construction of the capital and other expenses. In addition, the state peasants carried duties: road - for the construction and maintenance of roads, pit - for the transportation of mail, government cargo and officials, and so on.

At the end of the reign of Peter the Great, a lot has changed in the life of the estates. The nobles began to serve differently. Citizens received a new device and benefits. The peasantry began to pay differently and, on private lands, merged with the serfs. And the state determined their life by duty, not by right.

2.4 Church reform

An important place in the development of absolutism was occupied church reform. In 1721, the patriarchate was abolished, and its place was taken by the Theological College, or "Holy Governing Synod." Its head was the chief prosecutor of the Synod appointed by the tsar. The liquidation of the patriarchate, the establishment of the Synod meant the liquidation of the independent political role of the church. It became an integral part of the state apparatus.

In parallel with this, the state increased control over the income of the church from the monastery peasants, systematically withdrew a significant part of them for the construction of the fleet, the maintenance of the army, the disabled, schools and other expenses. It was forbidden to create new and limited the number of monks in existing monasteries. These actions of Peter aroused the discontent of the church hierarchy and the black clergy, and was one of the main reasons for their participation in all kinds of reactionary conspiracies.

2.5 Financial changes

Peter I not only changed the direct tax, making it a poll tax, but also significantly increased indirect taxes, invented new sources of income.

During the 8 years of the war, he recruited about 200 thousand soldiers, bringing the size of the army from 40 to 100 thousand. The cost of this army in 1709 is almost twice as expensive as in 1701 - 1,810,000 rubles. instead of 982.000. During the first 6 years of the war, more than 1.5 million rubles were paid. to the Polish king in the form of subsidies. The costs of the fleet, artillery, and the maintenance of diplomats caused by the war amounted to 2.3 million in 1701, 2.7 million in 1706 and 3.2 million in 1710. Already the first of these figures is too large compared to the funds that Peter received in the form taxes from the population (about 1.5 million). We had to look for additional sources of income.

At first, Peter took for his purposes from public institutions not only their free funds, but also the amounts that were previously spent on other purposes: this upset the correct course of the state machine. The army was supported from the main income of the state - customs and tavern duties. For the maintenance of the cavalry, it was necessary to assign a new tax "dragoon money", for the fleet - "ship" and so on. However, these direct taxes were rather insufficient, especially since they were collected very slowly. Therefore, other sources of taxes were invented.

The earliest invention of this kind, introduced on the advice of Kurbatov - stamped paper, did not give the profits expected from it. The more important was the damage to the coin. A new measure to increase incomes was the "returning" in 1704 of old quitrent items and the return of new quitrents. By 1708, the total amount of government revenues under this item had risen from 300,000 to 670,000 rubles. annually. Further, the treasury took over the sale of salt, which brought it up to 300 thousand rubles. annual income, tobacco (this enterprise was unsuccessful) and other products that gave up to 100 thousand rubles. annually. As a result, at the end of Peter's reign, state revenues increased to more than 10 million.

Of course, this growth did not come easily to the people. Peter wanted to come to the aid of his subjects, improve their working conditions, and raise their well-being. He encouraged trade in every possible way. Knowing the poverty of Russian townspeople, he advised them to unite in companies and attracted nobles to trade. In addition, Peter encouraged the development of industry, he started factories, put them into operation, and then gave them to private hands. Under him, the mineral wealth of the Urals was first estimated, and coal was found in the South.

Peter I was looking for means of national enrichment and wished to raise labor productivity. To do this, he applied a policy of protectionism, patronizing every step of trade and production.

2.6 Reform of culture and life

The first secular school was opened in 1701 in Moscow's Sukharev Tower "School of Mathematical and Navigational Sciences", which served as the basis for the Naval Academy in St. Petersburg. In the wake of it, medical, engineering, shipbuilding, mining, navigation, craft schools are being created. The emergence of a secular school required the creation of new textbooks. Of great importance was the creation in 1703 of "Arithmetic, that is, the science of numerals" by L. Magnitsky, which was a textbook on all sections of mathematics. Initially, when the need for specialists was especially great, the government allowed children of taxable estates into schools, but already at the end of the 17th century, schools acquired the character of estate noble educational institutions. Next to them grows a system of theological seminaries.

For the printing of secular educational, scientific, political literature and legislative acts, new printing houses were created in Moscow and St. Petersburg. The development of printing was accompanied by the beginning of an organized book trade, the creation in 1714 of the state library, which formed the basis of the library of the Academy of Sciences, and the appearance of large libraries in many aristocrats. Since 1703, the first Russian newspaper Vedomosti was systematically published, publishing information about the international, domestic and cultural life of that time, the course of hostilities.

The Kunstkamera, created by Peter I, laid the foundation for collecting collections of historical and memorial items and rarities, weapons, natural science collections, and so on. This was the beginning of the museum business in Russia.

The logical outcome of all the activities in the field of the development of science and education was the preparation for the opening of the Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg. Since there was no general education school system in the country, it integral part were an academic university and a gymnasium. The opening of the academy, most of whose members were foreign scientists invited to Russia, took place at the very end of 1725.

From the first quarter of the 18th century, a transition to urban planning and regular city planning was carried out. The appearance of the city is no longer determined by religious architecture, but by palaces and mansions, houses of government agencies and aristocracy in painting, icon painting is being replaced by a portrait. By the same time, there were attempts to create a Russian tetra. Festive holidays with illuminations, the performance of cantatas, the construction of triumphal arches have become more firmly established in life.

The old habitual long-sleeved clothes with long sleeves were banned and replaced with new ones. Camisoles, ties and frills, wide-brimmed hats, stockings, shoes, wigs quickly replaced old Russian clothes in the cities. The ban on wearing beards caused great resistance and discontent.

The establishment of ensembles marked the beginning of the establishment among the Russian nobility of "rules of good manners" and "noble behavior in society", and conversation in a foreign, mainly French language.

Changes in everyday life and culture were of great progressive significance. But they even more emphasized the separation of the nobility into a privileged noble class, turned the use of the benefits and achievements of culture into one of the noble estate privileges and were accompanied by the widespread gallomania and contempt for the Russian language and Russian culture among the nobility.

Conclusion

Opinions about the reign and reforms of Peter diverged greatly already during his lifetime. A small group of Peter's closest associates were of the opinion that they were very successful. The masses of the people, on the contrary, were ready to agree with the schismatics' assertion that Peter was the Antichrist. Both those and others proceeded from that general idea that Peter made a radical revolution and created new Russia not similar to the previous one.

The new army, navy, relations with Europe, finally, the European appearance, European technology - all these were facts that caught the eye: they were recognized by everyone, differing only in a fundamental way in their assessment. What some considered useful, others considered harmful to Russian interests; what some considered a great service to the fatherland, others saw in it a betrayal of other traditions. Both views could bring factual evidence in their favor, since both elements were mixed in Peter's reforms - both necessity and chance.

The scale of the changes that took place during the reign of Peter is enormous. The territory of the country has grown significantly, which, after many centuries of struggle, gained access to the sea and eliminated the state of political and economic isolation, entered the international arena, took a prominent place in the system of international relations and turned into a great European power. At that time, a manufacturing industry arose in Russia, in which powerful metallurgy acquired special significance. The character and dimensions of the internal and foreign trade and volume economic ties with other countries. A powerful regular army and navy were created, a huge step was taken in the development of culture and education. A strong blow was dealt to the spiritual dictatorship of the church in culture, education and other areas of the country's life. The old routine patriarchal way of life was being broken.

All these changes took place in the conditions of the entry of feudal-serf relations into the stage of decomposition and the emergence in their depths of new bourgeois relations. Aimed at eliminating the technical, economic and cultural backwardness of the country, at accelerating and developing, they were of great progressive significance.

Their implementation was to a large extent connected with the activities and personality of Peter the Great, perhaps the most important statesman pre-revolutionary Russia, with his exceptional determination, energy and courage, with which he broke routine orders and overcame countless difficulties. An outstanding politician, military figure and diplomat, he was able to correctly assess the situation, highlight the main thing, draw the right conclusions from mistakes and failures.

Possessing broad knowledge, showing great interest in literature, history, law, art, crafts and natural sciences, he was well aware of military affairs, shipbuilding, navigation and artillery. He knew how to select active and energetic fans in each of the industries and areas. state activity.

But all the changes and reforms were carried out on a feudal basis, by feudal methods, and were aimed at preserving and strengthening the feudal-absolutist system, the estate structure of society, estate rights and privileges of the ruling class. They were accompanied by the spread of feudal relations to new territories and new categories of the population, to new spheres of economic life. This hindered the formation of capitalist relations in the country, the economic and cultural development of the people and did not allow to eliminate the technical, economic and cultural backwardness of the nation. The negative side of changes and transformations was organically connected with the activities of Peter I himself, who was characterized by extreme cruelty, arbitrariness, substantiation and implementation of the principles of unlimited autocratic arbitrariness.

I think that Pushkin's lines could become the motto of that time: "My friend, let us dedicate our souls to the homeland with wonderful impulses!" Peter the Great spared neither strength nor health for the sake of the prosperity of Russia, he tried to make his associates and the entire Russian people follow his example.

Bibliography

1. History of the USSR from ancient times to late XVIII century. Ed. B.A. Rybakova. M., Publishing house " graduate School", 1975.

2. Klyuchevsky V.O. "Historical portraits", M., Pravda Publishing House, 1991.

3. Pavlenko N.I. "Peter I and his time", M., Publishing house "Enlightenment", 1989.

4. Platonov S.F. Textbook of Russian history for secondary school. Systematic course”, M., Publishing House “Link”, 1994.

5. Solovyov S.M. "Readings and stories on the history of Russia", M., Pravda Publishing House, 1989.

6. Syrov S.N. "Pages of history", M., Publishing house "Russian language", 1983.