Peter The Great Modernized Russia Essay

“I will drag you kicking and screaming into the modern world”, this famous quote from the Czar, Peter the Great involved a lot of symbolic changes. In the 16th to 17th century Russia was considered to be a country that was out of order and brutal in the eyes of major powers in Europe. However, after the rule of Peter the Great, this view changed and Russia was no longer seen as a “backwards” nation. Peter the Great modernized Russia by infusing 'western' technology and by forcing his people to reject many of their orthodox christian, 'tradition-bound' customs. Specifically these included: forcing the male population to wear western clothes and cutting their beards (or pay tax), building a modern Navy, melting down Church bells to make cannons, and lastly, building a new capital city his so called, "window to the west."

One way Peter the Great modernized Russia was by forcing male population to wear western clothes and cut their beards off. If

While Peter was the Czar of Russia he traveled to the Netherlands, England, and Austria, there he was a carpenter and learned how to make naval ships and other weapons used in the modernized nations of Europe. He had many carpenters trained to build these ships which would increase trade in Russia. Building ships would also result a growth in the economy, and would allow explorers to discover new ideas and inventions from other countries which would lead to a spread of knowledge/inventions. In addition to building ships Peter the Great had Church bells melted to make weapons for his armies, specifically, cannons. After his defeat by Charles of Sweden, Peter was left with the task of rebuilding his army. With no raw materials at hand, he used the bronze melted form the Church bells to build an array of new weapons. This act challenged the authority of the Russian Orthodox Church. These are two ways Peter the Great modernized