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Peter's reforms

Before Peter the Great land relations in the Moscow state did not lose its feudal nature. It means tight mutual dependence of central government, peasantry, aristocracy, nobility, dependence of Moscow from the economic development of the territories and prosperity of all estates, elements of self-governing of administrative units. A kind of legal treaty between the tsar and landlords formed the basement of the civil and military service and financial system. All this is an indirect evidence of classes representative system – a kind of feudal "democracy". This was the system replaced by the tsar-reformer.

Peter's reforms meant the end of the old order. State building projects of Peter I, his political and economic projects, building of navy and re-organization of the army, mining and industry development, studying of the natural waterways and projects of channels – all this caused the centralization of power, unknown before. The old order of state and military service were unable to satisfy the growing demands for qualified and numerous authorities corresponding to the complexity of the aims of the reign. But one of the main things was the impossibility of feudal system to answer the increasing demand for civil and military staff due to the decreasing land resources, which served as the "payment" for state service earlier. Politically weak vassal and tax classes were unable to resist the energy of the tsar.

The state economy, pressed by necessity of urgent changes, increased day by day. Practically all economic projects (including military) had been based on the rich resources belonging to the state or quasi-state enterprises with forests, mines and slaves enclosed to them, such as baron Stroganov's tremendous estate in Siberia or - some time later – Demidov's iron plants in Ural mountains. The demand for natural resources was growing constantly. The forests were to satisfy the needs of navy and metallurgic industry, peasantry should also serve as a resource for magnificent state building. Peter's conception of modernization did not care about the majority of Russians. The rights of the classes had been strongly restricted, the basement of common rights regulating the relations between vassals and supreme power decreased. The development of serfdom and growing pressure of peasant commons against the individuals is often seen as the result of Peter's reform.

It is obvious that Peter's reforms have raised from the urgent demands of state management during the war. Peter I had no definite concept of "westernization". One can hardly believe that this practically-minded man could be interested in the largely abstract ideas of introducing the foreign culture as well as different social, administrative and management methods.

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