Tsar Peter The Great

1. Tsar Peter The Great By: Abby Kopack Period 4 AP Euro- Quinn

2. My Prompt: • Analyze the major ways through which Tsar Peter the Great (1689-1725) sought to reform his society and its institutions in order to strengthen Russia and its position in Europe.

3. What is a Tsar? A Russian Prince who had total power and authority, like a Monarch They replaced Khans as supreme rulers They supported Orthodox Christianity (which means that they rejected the authority of the pope.) Who was Tsar Peter the Great? Interested in military power rather then a grandiose westernization plan After Tsar Alexia Mihailovich Romanov died, Peter assumed the title of Tsar instead of his brother Ivan, who was supposed to become Tsar but wasn’t fit for the job because he was mentally handicapped. He accepted all social classes even though he had been raised in a wealthy household Background Information:

4. What he wanted: He wanted to “redress” the defeats suffered by the Tsar’s armies in their wars with Poland and Sweden, by reforming his army He also sought to continue territorial expansion, a tsarist tradition, which would gain Russia a more knowledgeable position in Europe The reform of Tsar Peter the Great:

5. Tsar Peter’s Military Reform Plans: • Before the reform, the army was a cavalry made up of boyars and service Nobility. Playing a secondary role, were the foot soldiers. The whole army served on a part time basis • Other armies of the time were highly disciplined infantry that would continually fire their muskets and move forward fearlessly. • This would be a very expensive transition for Peter so he had to be very careful making any of these military moves. • Peter decided to make all noblemen serve in the army or the civil administration, for life. • He established schools and universities to train skilled technicians that a modern army and government would require. This would help to strengthen both the army and the government. • He made every young nobleman receive 5 years of education away from home. • Established a military-civilian bureaucracy system of 14 ranks, where all recruits had to start at the bottom and work their way up.

6. Military Reform Plans (Cont.): • Peter decided to make all noblemen serve in the army or the civil administration, for life. • He established schools and universities to train skilled technicians that a modern army and government would require. This would help to strengthen both the army and the government. • He made every young nobleman receive 5 years of education away from home. • Established a military-civilian bureaucracy system of 14 ranks, where all recruits had to start at the bottom and work their way up. • He recruited talented foreigners and stuck them into his service, this not only strengthened his and made his government more powerful, but also made other countries aware of his growing army and his continual growth of power.

7. The Great Northern War: • The Great Northern War was Russia versus Charles XII and was a positive result of the military reform, considering that Russia won the War. It showed how effective Tsar Peter’s new army was. Through this war Russia expanded to Estonia, much of present day Latvia, and Russia became the dominant power of the Baltic Sea. Russia was also named a great European power through this war.

8. Positive Results: New military systems, such as the 14 ranked bureaucracy system, were established that are still seen and used today. Russia was then after seen as a great power in Europe, due to its military victories. Negative Results: Tsar Peter greatly increased the work requirements for the peasants. He not only made them serve in the army, but their taxes increased three times what they had been. Serfs become more needed and had to work in the factories and mines. Serfdom became more oppressive under Tsar rule. Results: