Reforms can be beneficial or detrimental an emerging empire. During his reign, Peter the Great implemented many reforms that expedited the Europeanization of Europe. Many of these reforms were viewed as negative by society and many were against them. However, most of them did what was intended to help modernize Russia. With his newfound knowledge of city-building, he built the city of St. Petersburg, which
Shaw 6 became the new capitol of Russia. He adopted a European form of the calendar, and allowed women to attend the big society parties. He instituted schools of science and technology such as the School of Mathematics and Navigation and the Academy of Sciences. New Russian Provinces were modeled on the Swedish system of provinces in which larger, more politically important area received more political
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Peter abolished the old national subdivisions and established in their place eight governorates. To gain a warm-water port, Peter he used the knowledge he gained in the Netherlands and waged war against the Swedish Empire and eventually gained a Baltic sea port. To defeat the Swedes he had to make several reforms to the Russian army. He had a meritocratic approach to appointing general and high-military positions, which created a more efficient, better drilled, and prudently commanded army. The new Baltic port also served to improve trade with western Europe. This helped the Russian economy and their rise to become a major political power. However, not all of Peter's accomplishments were positive. Peter believed that, in order for Russia to modernize, it must adopt European culture as well as its ideas. For example, he forced all the Russian nobles to shave their beards and wear more European style clothes. Additionally, he exacted heavy taxes to finance his