Peter The Great Influence On Russian Culture

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Peter the great transformed Russia into one of the most powerful states in Europe with a modern and efficient military. He also made several reforms to the domestic and political structures of Russia that is still influential till now. He is a visionary and is influenced by the western world. He organize a large embassy and went to a number of European countries to learn some skills and import ideas from the western world into Russian society. Thereby transforming Russia into a modernized country. During his reign, he established churches and universities and enforced compulsory education so that his people could be educated and help in the development of Russia.
One of the major changes in Russian culture was the shaving of the beards. He wanted to import western manners, dress and style into Russian society. Therefore, when he returned from the west, he demanded that beards be cut and foreign dress be worn. Those who refused to obey have to pay a tax and even peasant visiting the city have to pay a small fees to keep their beards. Furthermore, from his travel in the West, he pick up some ideas and begin his military reforms that was imitative of the west, making him the founder of modern Russian army. He felt that the army was …show more content…

He implemented the Table of Ranks in 1722 which is a set of fourteen ranks that apply to both civil and military service. Its purpose is to both reward merit and recognize nobles as leaders of society. When a person reach rank eight for civil service and rank twelve in military, they were given hereditary nobility. This allows anyone to work their way up the bureaucratic hierarchy. I feel that this encourages people to work harder and put in more effort as they now have a motivation and purpose to serve. This changes also allows Peter the Great to weaken the power and influence of the Russian Boyars who opposed the European