Western Europe's influence on Russia during the eighteenth century under Peter the Great

¶ … rise of Russia. There are four references used for this paper.

Throughout time there have been a number of civilizations which have risen and fell around the world. It is interesting to look at the impact of Western Europe on the social growth of Russia during the eighteenth century.

Peter the Great

Peter the Great was instrumental in creating the powerful Russian Empire. He lived in Moscow as a child, the "son of Czar Aleksei Mikhailovich. His father died when Peter was ten, and he and his invalid half-brother, Ivan, ruled together for a short time after deposing their older sister Sophia. When Ivan died, Peter, at age twenty-four, became sole czar (Riechers)."

In 1694, when he was only twenty-two years old, Peter I sailed the White Sea in order to restore peace with China, while engaging in war with Sweden. He was able to establish a navy and learn how to build ships while hiding his true identity. Peter "envisioned a great system of canals to join the Caspian and Black Seas and Russia's great rivers -- linking the Russian Empire as never before. He set in motion reforms needed for Russia to compete with European powers in education, culture, and trade; and in 1703 he established St. Petersburg as his capital. By the end of that century, Russia had become a vast, multiethnic empire stretching from Europe to the Americas with Poles, Estonians, Latvians, Caucasian peoples, Armenians, Georgians, Crimeans, and Siberians in its borders (Riechers)."

Peter received very little formal education, however he lusted for knowledge and was self-taught in German and Dutch. This quest for knowledge led to Peter traveling to Europe in 1697 in order to gain more information about Western Culture. Peter visited "Germany, the Netherlands, England, and Austria, bringing back with him hundreds of men to command and train his new navy and three hundred artisans to train his populace (Riechers)."

Building an Empire

Once Peter returned to Moscow he "set in motion reforms to modernize Russia based on European models. The entire administrative, military, religious, and social orders were overhauled, and European tastes in architecture and the fine and decorative arts were imposed. Among other things, Peter changed the calendar to match Europe's, discontinued the office of church Patriarch, and penalized Russians who would not shave their beards and adopt European clothing (Riechers)."

Baltic Wars

Russia developed alliances with Poland and Denmark in 1699 in order to end an era of isolation from Europe, defeat Sweden and "develop direct contact with western naval powers and to fulfill Peter the Great's domestic reform program. While Sweden won the early battles, Peter learned lessons and worked with foreign experts to reform army and administration on Swedish lines. When St. Petersburg was in founded in 1703 to replace Moscow as the capital, the new port on the Baltic enabled Peter to expand the navy to 46 battleships and 800 galleys, which were capable of defeating Sweden and alarmed Great Britain (web.uvic.ca/~jfedorak/Russia.htm)."

In 1709, Peter the Great defeated Sweden at Poltava and captured Europe's attention. The Baltic Wars ended in 1721 with Russia claiming victory. Russia had "expanded influence in Poland and Germany, and became a Great Power independent without outside support. The Russian empire expanded to the Pacific Ocean in 1722 with the invasion of Siberia (web.uvic.ca/~jfedorak/Russia.htm)."

Important Changes

Russia saw a number of changes in the eighteenth century under Peter the Great, many of which can be attributed to the influences of Europe. As it became stronger, the "church subordinated to the state, patriarche was formally abolished in 1721, church property was put under control of a government department and church theology taught obedience to the state. There was a new educational program to train soldiers, which included schools of navigation, mathematics, artillery, languages, medicine and engineering, the Academy of Sciences was established in 1724 and the first Russian newspaper was published in 1703. Russians were sent to Europe to learn technology, economics, and political science (web.uvic.ca/~jfedorak/Russia.htm)."

Peter the Great was the ruler of Russia from 1689 to 1725, during which time the country continued to thrive. Peter's influence extended to Catherine the Great, "who ruled from 1762 to 1796. Russia emerged from isolation to become a world power in just one hundred and fifty years (Riechers)."

Catherine the Great

Catherine the Great was "one of those catalyzing forces in history who, through hard experience, unbounded intelligence, and overwhelming practicality, changed the face of a country against overwhelming odds. She was a German princess who was married to Peter, a nephew of Elizabeth, who served as Empress of Russia from 1741 to 1762. Elizabeth, the daughter of Peter the Great, was a shrewd and Machiavellian ruler; she did not like Catherine, who was, from the time of her marriage to Peter in 1745 to the death of Elizabeth in 1762, constantly under the threat of danger (www.wsu.edu/~dee/ENLIGHT/ABSOLUTE.HTM)."

Upon Elizabeth's death, Peter became Emperor Peter III and during his reign of just a few months, established peace between Russia and Prussia, averting Russia's conquest of Prussia. He was assassinated soon afterward, resulting in Catherine becoming ruler of Russia.

Modernization

In her efforts to modernize Russia, Catherine asserted "absolute authority in order to reform the law and government. She massively reorganized local governments in 1775, but, unlike the Prussians, she created a civil bureaucracy, not of all ranks of society, but of the nobility (www.wsu.edu/~dee/ENLIGHT/ABSOLUTE.HTM)."

Catherine focused her most dramatic reforms on economical aspects. She "vigorously set about eliminating trade barriers such as taxes and tariffs, and worked hard to build up the Russian middle class. She issued charters granting or outlining all the rights available to individual towns in an effort to spur productivity and the growth of wealth (www.wsu.edu/~dee/ENLIGHT/ABSOLUTE.HTM)."

Enlightenment

Europe also had an influence on Russia's art community. During the eighteenth century, Europe went through an era known as Enlightenment. The "ideas of the Enlightenment prepared the way for the rapid 'progress' of the following century. In the various branches of the arts, new ideas were developing, interacting with each other, and shaping the culture and artistic heritage of Europe. It was at this time, and particularly during the reign of Peter the Great that Russia began to participate in the secular artistic world of the West (www.rollins.edu/Foreign_Lang/Russian/18intro.html)."

Russian artists had previously been exposed to a different artistic method than those in Europe, providing them with a "different approach to art. They needed a period of adjustment to become acclimated to Enlightenment styles and techniques (www.rollins.edu/Foreign_Lang/Russian/18intro.html)."

Conclusion

The eighteenth century saw Russia rise to a great empire. European influences had a huge impact on the changes implemented by Peter the Great and Catherine the Great, allowing them to create a powerful nation.