Peter the Great's Petrine Reforms and the Bronze Horseman

Introduction to the Petrine Reforms

The reforms of Peter the Great — known collectively as the Petrine Reforms — fundamentally changed the character of Russia, shifting it from the predominantly religious disposition it had assumed in prior centuries toward a far more administrative and secular one. Anisimov notes that there was a "decisive triumph of secular principles over confessional and religious ones" as a result of the Reforms, which themselves grew out of an infusion of humanism and Enlightenment philosophy from Europe in the late seventeenth century (216). Peter's changes touched administration, social organization, and religion alike, each reform aimed at modernizing Russia and aligning it more closely with the progressive states of Western Europe.

Administrative and Social Reforms

Peter's administrative reforms broke Russia into more manageable units rather than leaving overburdened administrations to oversee densely populated cities. His Table of Ranks was established to provide a standardized list of positions in the government, the court, and the military. The Table of Ranks operated as a system of titles and honors organized by numeral, each number indicating one's relative closeness to the Czar. It was Peter's means of destabilizing the entrenched Boyar power elite.

Peter made it possible for any common man in Russia to climb socially to the top of the Table of Ranks through will and demonstrated ability. Before this reform, ranks were simply inherited from one generation to the next. By challenging the classist paradigm that had long defined Russian society, Peter's ranking system promoted a more egalitarian order — all positions were now theoretically open to anyone — while still preserving the dignity and stature of those positions, since only the truly skilled and capable could realistically attain the highest ranks.

At the same time, Peter's reforms reinforced the fact that peasants remained tied to the land. He did institute a new peasant category — the so-called "state peasants" — but their primary purpose was administrative: the reform made it easier for the state to supervise the general populace (Anisimov 196). This was, in essence, an administrative measure dressed in the language of the Enlightenment ideology of liberty then in vogue across Europe.

Religious Reform and the Orthodox Church

There was a consistent pattern to Peter's reforms: they all grew out of a desire to modernize Russia, to streamline it, and to make it more practical and efficient in responding to the demands for social change emanating from Europe. Peter wished to demonstrate that Russia was neither backward nor ungovernable. The administrative reforms were modeled largely on Sweden, and the religious reforms followed examples set by European states in the wake of the Protestant Reformation.

The religious reforms undertaken by Peter consisted of transforming the Orthodox Church "into a government institution" (Anisimov 216). This move was intended to make the Church a more willing participant in, and a supportive structure for, the overall "regime of autocracy" that characterized Russia under Peter (Anisimov 216). It was not a reform rooted in atheism; rather, it was another administrative measure designed to shore up power for the Czar and ensure that one of Russia's most influential institutions answered to the state.

Pushkin's 'Bronze Horseman' and the Image of Petersburg

The prologue to Pushkin's The Bronze Horseman suggests that views about Peter and his imperial city of Petersburg were suffused with awe, admiration, and love. Peter had transformed the city into a marvel of architecture and human capability, converting what had been a Swedish fort into a majestic capital where the administrative forces of Russia gathered and where the city could reflect the elegance and refinement of the best that Europe had produced, combined with a distinctly Russian spirit.

Pushkin is effusive in his praise of Petersburg and, implicitly, of Peter the Great, who built the city and raised it from its frontier-style, makeshift origins to a splendor of grace, sophistication, authority, charm, beauty, and fortification. Pushkin writes: "City of Peter, just you shine / And stand unshakable as Russia!" For Pushkin, Petersburg is a symbol of all that is best in Russia — its nobility, its strength, its inner light, grace, and steadfastness. It is transcendent and splendorous: "May make a peace with beauty, thine, / The conquered nature's casual rushes." Its magnificence rests on the fact that Peter himself, much like an act of grace, built upon raw nature a home for civilized Russia in a place that had once been a small Finnish outpost.

Conclusion: Peter the Great in Russian Memory

The love that Pushkin expresses for Petersburg and Peter is evident throughout the prologue and reflects the admiration of the ordinary Russian, whose feelings Pushkin gave voice to as a poet beloved by his countrymen. Pushkin states this love clearly: "I love, O capital my fairest, / Your stronghold guns' thunder and smoke…"; and elsewhere: "I love your view of stern and grave, / The Neva wave's regal procession…"; and still: "I love you, Peter's great creation…" Pushkin does not disguise his sentiment. The portrait he paints indicates that the prevailing view of Peter and Petersburg rallied Russians together in support of their Czar, and indeed moved Pushkin to bestow upon him the title that history would confirm: "Great."

Works Cited

Anisimov, Evgenii. Peter I. NY: Routledge, 2015. Print.

Pushkin, Aleksandr. "The Bronze Horseman." Poetry Lovers Page. 1833. Web. 20 Sep 2015.