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

In the historical literature, there are conflicting assessments of the activities of Peter I. However, most researchers believe that his reforms were of outstanding importance in the history of Russia. The debate is about whether the modernization of Russia was a forced reformation of the country or was prepared by the entire course of the previous development of Russia. Different opinions are expressed about whether Peter's activity was purposeful or was an impulsive reaction to an external challenge from the advanced European states. Since the time of Klyuchevsky, the opinion has been established that all the transformations of Russia in the era of Peter the Great were caused by the Northern War.

The transformations of Peter I were a vivid example of radical reforms carried out by the state without the support and even with the resistance of broad sections of society. They were largely prepared by his predecessors. Centuries of tradition and a long stay at war have formed the main method of their conduct - despotic violence. Personal acquaintance with Europe during the stay of Peter as part of the Great Embassy at the end of the 17th century. determined the purpose and direction of the transformations.

The ideal state structure for Peter I was a “regular state”, a model similar to a ship, where the captain is the tsar, his subjects are officers and sailors acting according to the Naval Charter. Only such a state, according to Peter, could become an instrument of decisive transformation, the purpose of which is to turn Russia into a great European power. Peter achieved this goal and therefore went down in history as a great reformer. But at what cost were these results achieved?

The repeated increase in taxes led to the impoverishment and enslavement of the bulk of the population. Attaching every Russian to a place of residence and a place of service reduced the space of freedom, which expanded at that time in Europe. All were built into the system, like cogs in a clockwork. Carrying out the reform of public administration, Peter I was guided by the introduction of a bureaucratic principle. In Russia, a cult of institutions has developed, and the pursuit of ranks and positions has become a national disaster.

A feature of the administrative reform was the creation of a system of state control over the activities of the administrative apparatus. This led to a kind of “bureaucratic revolution”, the consequence of which was the dependence of everyone on the state apparatus.

The absorption of the personality by the feudal state was facilitated by the church reform, which turned the church into a part of the state apparatus. This meant for the Russians the loss of a spiritual alternative to the state ideology. While in Europe the church, separating from the state, drew closer to the believers, in Russia it moved away from them, ceased to be a defender of the “humiliated and offended”, became an obedient instrument of power, which was contrary to Russian traditions, spiritual values, and the whole age-old way of life. It is natural that many of his contemporaries called Peter I the Antichrist Tsar.

Peculiar results were given by the desire of Peter I to catch up with Europe in economic development. He tried to realize this goal with the help of accelerated “manufactory industrialization”, i.e., the creation of state and private manufactories by mobilizing state funds and using the labor of serfs. The main feature of the development of manufactories was the fulfillment of state, primarily military, orders, which freed them from competition and deprived them of free economic initiative.

In spiritual life, the economic ethics of Protestantism won, claiming that wealth is not a sin, but a sign of being chosen by God, provided that wealth is not used for luxury, but for further success in the development of production. The free man became the center of new social relations emerging in Europe.

The result of the Petrine reforms was the creation in Russia of the foundations of a state-monopoly industry, feudal and militarized. Instead of a civil society with a market economy emerging in Europe, Russia by the end of Peter's reign was a military-police state with a state-controlled monopolized feudal economy. Cities and villages were bled to death due to overexertion of the people's forces. There was a slowdown in the development of free enterprise.

Thus, Peter's reforms, aimed at the Europeanization of Russia, did not achieve their goal. The revolutionary nature of Peter turned out to be false, as it was carried out while maintaining the basic principles of a despotic regime, universal enslavement. The only initiator of the movement in the created system was the state, from the head of which the pace, direction, and methods of development depended.

What specific transformations of Peter 1 were carried out during his reign?

In 1711, instead of the Boyar Duma, the Senate was established, which was the highest state body of the country, exercised leadership and control over all institutions.
In 1717-1718. the central institutions were reformed: instead of almost 50 orders, 10 colleges were created that were in charge of all areas of the country's life.
In 1721, as a result of a church reform, the position of patriarch was abolished, and the Holy Synod was placed at the head of the church, that is, the church was placed under the control of the tsar.
As a result of military reform, a regular army and navy were created.
In 1722, a decree on succession to the throne was issued, according to which the emperor himself appointed the heir.
As a result of administrative reforms in Russia, the formation of an absolute monarchy was completed.

In the Petrine era, there was a leap in the development of the manufacturing industry: the Northern War forced the creation of its own production of iron, copper, cloth, ropes and sails. By the second quarter of the century, a large number of manufactories (about 100) and mining enterprises operated in Russia, the development of iron ore deposits began, and a new powerful industrial region appeared - the Urals. Merchants who founded private manufactories received benefits. Promoting the development of industry, Peter I established central bodies in charge of trade and industry (first, the Burgmeister Chamber, or Town Hall, was created, then the main magistrate). The merchant class was divided into two guilds, while the artisans united into workshops according to professions.

Peter I pursued a protectionist policy towards Russian industry. As a result of the measures taken by him and the government, Russia's dependence on imports was significantly reduced. Moreover, Russia began to export iron, linen, etc. to foreign countries. In 1724, a protective customs tariff was introduced - high duties on foreign goods that could be manufactured or already produced by domestic enterprises.

Significant changes can be traced in the field of social policy. The main social measure of the government in relation to the peasants was to conduct a census of 1718-1724, with the end of which in Russia the household tax was replaced by a poll tax.

By the 30-40s. serfdom also penetrated into industry. The decree of 1736 attached forever to the manufactories both alien workers and their families.

As a result of the transformations, Russia has become a strong European state. Technical and economic backwardness was largely overcome. However, routine machinery and serfdom in agriculture retarded the growth of productive forces. Such an assessment of Peter's reforms also has the right to exist along with the above.

Thanks to the vigorous activity of Peter I in the economy, the level and forms of development of the productive forces, in the political system of Russia, in the structure and functions of the authorities, in the organization of the army, in the class and estate structure of the population, in the life and culture of peoples, tremendous changes took place. Medieval Muscovite Rus turned into the Russian Empire. The place of Russia and its role in international affairs has changed radically.
The complexity and inconsistency of the development of Russia during this period determined the inconsistency of the activities of Peter I in the implementation of reforms. On the one hand, these reforms were of great historical significance, since they met the national interests and needs of the country, contributed to its progressive development, being aimed at eliminating its backwardness. On the other hand, the reforms were carried out by the same feudal methods and thereby contributed to the strengthening of the rule of the feudal lords.
The progressive transformations of the time of Peter the Great from the very beginning carried conservative features, which, in the course of the development of the country, became more and more powerful and could not ensure the elimination of its backwardness in full. Objectively, these reforms were of a bourgeois nature, but subjectively, their implementation led to the strengthening of serfdom and the strengthening of feudalism. They could not be different - the capitalist way of life in Russia at that time was still very weak.
It should also be noted the cultural changes in Russian society that took place in the time of Peter the Great: the emergence of first-level schools, schools for specialties, the Russian Academy of Sciences. A network of printing houses appeared in the country for printing domestic and translated publications. The first newspaper in the country began to appear, the first museum appeared. Significant changes have taken place in everyday life.

13) Peter's military reform1

The essence of the military reform was the elimination of the noble militias and the organization of a permanent, combat-ready army with a uniform structure, weapons, uniforms, discipline, and charters.

In the spring of 1690, the famous "amusing regiments" - Semenovsky and Preobrazhensky - were created. , the "capital city of Preshburg" is being built on the Yauza.
The Semyonovsky and Preobrazhensky regiments became the core of the future permanent (regular) army and proved themselves during the Azov campaigns of 1695-1696. By the end of Peter's reign, Russia became one of the strongest maritime powers in the world, having 48 linear and 788 galley and other ships.

Before Peter the army consisted of two main parts - the noble militia and various semi-regular formations. The revolutionary change was that Peter introduced a new principle of recruiting the army - periodic convocations of the militia were replaced by systematic recruitment sets. Recruitment sets were distributed to the population. In 1699, the first recruitment set was made, since 1705, sets have become annual. From 20 yards they took one person, single, aged 15 to 20 years. The service life of a recruit was practically unlimited.
The officers of the Russian army were replenished at the expense of the nobles who studied in the guards noble regiments or in specially organized schools (Pushkar, artillery, navigation, fortification, Naval Academy, etc.). In 1716, the Military Charter was adopted, and in 1720 - the Naval Charter, a large-scale rearmament of the army was carried out. Peter had a huge strong army - 200 thousand people (not counting 100 thousand Cossacks),
The main results of the military reforms of Peter the Great are as follows:
- the creation of a combat-ready regular army, one of the strongest in the world, which gave Russia the opportunity to fight with its main opponents and defeat them;
- the emergence of a whole galaxy of talented commanders (Alexander Menshikov, Boris Sheremetev, Fedor Apraksin, Yakov Bruce, etc.);
- creation of a powerful navy;
- a gigantic increase in military spending and covering them through the most severe squeezing of funds from the people.

14) The empire grew in the era of palace coups (1725-1762)

Peter I died on January 28, 1725 without appointing a successor to the throne. A long struggle of various noble groups for power began. In 1725, A.D. Menshikov, a representative of the new tribal nobility, enthroned the widow of Peter I, Catherine I. To strengthen her power in 1726, the Empress established the Supreme Privy Council. From 1726 to 1730 The council, limiting the power of the Senate, actually decided all state affairs. After the death of Catherine I, 12-year-old Peter II, the grandson of Peter I, became the crown emperor. Dolgoruky and Golitsyn. Peter II fell under the influence of the old boyar aristocracy, in fact, gave power to the Supreme Privy Council. In 1730, Peter II died of smallpox, and the niece of Peter I, the wife of the Duke of Courland, Anna Ioannovna, was invited to reign. Before accepting the crown, she agreed to the terms of limiting her power in favor of the Supreme Privy Council, but, after becoming Empress, she immediately dissolved the council and repressed its members. From 1730 to 1740 the country was ruled by the favorite of the Empress E.I. Biron and his close associates from the Germans. It was a decade of dominance of foreigners, a time of rampant cruelty of the authorities and embezzlement of public funds. In 1740, Anna Ioannovna declared her sister's three-month-old grandson the heir to the throne, and appointed Biron as regent.

In November 1740, as a result of a palace coup, the regency was transferred to Anna Leopoldovna. In November 1741, after another coup caused by dissatisfaction with the continuation of German dominance, Elizaveta Petrovna (1741-1761) ascended the throne, supported by the guards, with help from France and Sweden, she arrested and imprisoned the baby emperor, exiled to Siberia I.Minich, A.I.Osterman and other foreigners who claimed power. During her reign, there was a return to the Petrine order and their strengthening. Elizabeth pursued a policy of strengthening the rights and privileges of the nobility. The landowners were given the right to sell peasants as recruits. Customs fees were abolished. The aggressive policy of Prussia forced Russia to conclude an alliance with Austria, France and Sweden. The Seven Years' War of 1756-1763 began. A 100,000-strong Russian army was sent to the territory of Austria against Prussia. In the summer of 1757, Russian troops, having entered Prussia, inflicted a crushing defeat on the Prussians near the village of Gros-Egersdorf. In 1758 Koenigsberg was taken. In the same year, the main battle took place with the main forces of King Frederick II near Zorndorf. The Russian army under the command of General P.S. Saltykov, with the support of the allied Austrian troops, practically destroyed the Prussian army as a result of a bloody battle. The capture of Berlin in 1760 brought Prussia to the brink of disaster. From this, she was saved by the death of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, which occurred on December 25. 1761

After the death of Elizabeth Petrovna, her nephew Peter III (1761-1762) ascended the throne, who ended the war and returned all the previously conquered lands to the Prussian king Frederick II. He made peace with Prussia and entered into a military alliance with Frederick II. Peter III did not understand the beliefs and customs of the Orthodox Church and neglected them. The pro-Prussian policy caused dissatisfaction with his rule and led to the growth of the popularity of his wife, Sophia Frederica Augusta of Zerbst. Unlike her husband, she, being a German, converted to Orthodoxy, observed fasts, and attended divine services. In Orthodoxy, she received the name Ekaterina Alekseevna.

On June 29, 1762, with the help of the guardsmen of the Izmailovsky and Semenovsky regiments, Catherine seizes power. Peter III signs the act of renunciation and dies at the hands of security officers.

Activity evaluation. Different points of view

Now an academician, then a hero,

Now a navigator, now a carpenter,

He is an all-encompassing soul

On the throne was an eternal worker.

A.S. Pushkin, 1833

Viewpoints on the reign of Peter I

The activities of Peter I during his lifetime were differently evaluated by his contemporaries. And after the death of Peter, disputes did not continue to subside. Some called him a great reformer who turned Russia into a major and strong European power. Others accused of violating traditions, customs, of destroying national identity. But one thing is certain - it was a strong, bright personality who left a significant mark on the history of Russia, the country that he loved so devotedly. Great is Peter, great are his deeds!

Issues on which there are disputes

Was the activity of Peter 1 prepared by the entire previous course of Russia's development?

Are Peter's reforms only a reaction to the changed external situation, or were they objectively necessary for the country?

To what extent did the goals of the reforms correspond to the huge sacrifices that were made during their implementation?

Positive ratings

Historians of the 18th century (V. Tatishchev, I. Golikov, P. Shafirov and others) saw in Peter the Great an ideal monarch.

S. Solovyov called in his writings Peter I "the greatest historical figure", who most fully embodied the spirit of the people. He believed that all transformations were the result of the active, ebullient activity of Peter I.

V. Klyuchevsky noted that the program of transformations was "drawn by the people of the 17th century", but it was directed by the conditions of Peter the Great's time, was necessary and urgent at that time.

Negative ratings

A. Herzen called the period of Peter's reforms "civilization with a whip in hand"

N. Karamzin, N. Shcherbatov accused the tsar of the "horrors of autocracy", of violating traditions.

P. Milyukov, negatively evaluating the transformations of Peter I, noted that the country was included in the number of European countries "at the cost of ruin."

The Slavophiles were sure that Russia had its own path of development, and Peter I turned away from it.

Combination of positive and negative ratings

In Soviet times, historians called Peter I an outstanding historical figure. However, it was noted that his transformations intensified the class struggle, as they were carried out by force, using the labor of a huge number of peasants.

Many modern scientists, positively evaluating the reforms of Peter I, emphasized that they were carried out from above, often with the resistance of broad sections of society (N. Pavlenko, K. Anisimov).

Examples of tasks No. 39 with approximate answers to them.

Example #1

Below are two points of view on the transformation of Peter I:

The transformations of Peter I were prepared by the entire previous development of the country.

In the 17th century, such large-scale reforms were not carried out, there were no prerequisites for them. All innovations were carried out only by Peter I.

Arguments for choosing the first point of view:

Changes in the social structure of society: the abolition of localism, the convergence of estates with estates, an increase in the number of service people

The rapid development of the economy: the emergence of the first manufactories, protectionism in trade.

The emergence of regiments of the new system, the modernization of the army

Changes in everyday life, culture, its secularization.

Arguments for choosing the second point of view

Russia economically lagged far behind Western countries.

The results of foreign policy were quite modest, there was no access to either the Black or the Baltic Sea.

There were very few manufactories, their development was slow.

There were no major changes in the state apparatus.

Life, way of life remained patriarchal.

Example #2

In historical science, there are different points of view on the reforms of Peter I. Here is one of them.

"Peter's reform was inevitable, but he accomplished it through terrible violence against the people's soul and people's beliefs."

(A.N. Tolstoy, writer)

Give two examples that support this point of view, and two that refute it.

Arguments to support:

Reforms were carried out by force, many things were literally planted in society

Many national foundations of life and culture were destroyed

The church became completely dependent on the state

The standard of living of most of the population has significantly decreased, many thousands of people have died.

Arguments in rebuttal:

The reforms of Peter I reflected the objective necessity of Russia at that time

The country needed a strong army and navy to strengthen its international position

The old state apparatus has become obsolete, new state and local authorities were needed, which would be able to solve the problems that had arisen

The reforms led to the development of the economy, the widespread opening of manufactories, an increase in production

Russia was able to access the Baltic Sea, thereby not only “cutting a window to Europe” for trade relations, but also gaining the status of a great European power .

The foundations of secular culture and education were laid.

Example #3

Below is a point of view on the reforms of Peter I.

"The reforms of Peter I led to the creation of conditions for the development of high-performance large-scale industry in Russia."

Arguments to support

Under Peter 1, many manufactories and factories were built that met the needs of society, especially in supplying the army and navy with everything necessary.

Arms factories were built (in Tula, Olonets region, Sestroretsk), gunpowder factories (in St. Petersburg and near Moscow), leather and textile factories (in Kazan, Moscow, Yaroslavl). They began to produce paper, cement in Russia, a sugar factory was built, and much more.

The development of the Urals continued

Geological exploration was actively carried out to discover new mineral deposits.

Arguments in rebuttal

The construction of manufactories and factories was carried out by violent methods, there were not enough workers in the conditions of the feudal system, entire villages were assigned to factories, forcibly forcing them to work taxes in this way. Often, criminals and beggars were sent to work in factories, whose labor productivity was low.

According to the decree of 1721, possessive peasants appeared, who became the property of factories and factories, working conditions were difficult, and mortality increased.

Example #4

There is an assessment of the impact of the activities of Peter I on the subsequent development of Russia.

“The Russian state and society in the post-Petrine period (the second quarter-second half of the 18th century) fully preserved the internal political and social “legacy” that Peter the Great left behind him”

Using historical knowledge, give at least two arguments confirming this assessment, and at least two arguments refuting it. Indicate which of the arguments you have given support this point of view, and which refute it.

Arguments to support

Until the end of the 18th century, the system of transfer of power created by Peter I was preserved.

Basically, the system of state power remained the same as it was under Peter I.

The exploitation of the peasantry intensified; it continued to remain a disenfranchised part of the population.

The dependence of the church on the state was preserved and even increased.

Arguments in rebuttal

After Peter I, the dependence of the tsars on the court and guard groups increased, since for the most part they were elevated to the throne with their help.

The Decree "On Single Inheritance" has lost its force.

The nobility turned into a privileged estate, and their service did not become mandatory.

Partial liberalization of the economy began. So estate restrictions on crafts and entrepreneurial activities were eliminated.

Example #5

Below is a point of view on the reforms carried out by Peter I.

"Performing his reforms, Peter I borrowed the forms of organization of production (economy) that had developed in Western Europe, the methods of organizing the army and state institutions (government bodies and power structures)."

Using historical knowledge, give two arguments that can support this point of view, and two arguments that can refute it.

Arguments to support

Following the example of the West, collegiums have been established in Russia

The development of manufactories in many respects had similarities with Western models. Foreign specialists with their knowledge and experience were often involved.

The introduction of governors and magistracies was also carried out following the example of the West.

Recruitment kits are an established system for recruiting armies in the West. This was also adopted by Peter I.

Arguments in rebuttal

The monarchical system was preserved, the absolutist power was strengthened. This was a difference from the West, where the first signs of democratization and freedom appeared.

The role of the state in the economy is great, Peter I supported domestic producers and merchants. In the West, signs of a market economy are more developed, state intervention in the economy was weaker.

To be continued

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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 of the royal family, brutally killed the boyar Matveev and many relatives of Queen Natalya.

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 state 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 unfavorable childhood conditions, 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 fun, but then she decided that it was time for him to settle down, lead a life worthy of the royal title, 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 spouses' characters and the court's dislike for Lopukhina explains the fact that Peter's love for his wife did not last long, and then Peter began to prefer family life - camping, 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 the military needs of the 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 country's northern and southern borders 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 required 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 the 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 by 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 own purposes from state institutions not only their free funds, but also those 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 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, an academic university and a gymnasium were its integral part. 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 the general idea that Peter made a radical revolution and created a new Russia, not like the old 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 nature and extent of domestic and foreign trade and the volume of economic ties with other countries have changed radically. 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 of 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 a wide knowledge, showing great interest in literature, history, law, art, crafts and natural sciences, he perfectly knew military affairs, shipbuilding, navigation and artillery. He knew how to select active and energetic admirers in each of the branches and spheres of 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 the end of the XVIII century. Ed. B.A. Rybakova. M., Publishing House "Higher 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.

Portal for the student. Self-training

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

Activity evaluation. Different points of view

Viewpoints on the reign of Peter I

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Portal for the student. Self-training

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