Western Civilzation: Peter the Great - Essay Example

Peter the Great – 4 pages The modern Western world has a general perception of Peter the Great of Russia, perhaps helped considerably by the self-assigned appellation, as having been a brilliant reformer for his country. During his lifetime, he pulled the various regions of Russia together forming an Empire and becoming recognized as a major European power. Through the sweeping changes he made in the military, government and domestic fronts, he undoubtedly brought Russia into the modern world of his time, gaining for his country a reputation and a competitive defensive and even offensive force. At home, he introduced education reform, brought the church under state control and began to reform the economy. He encouraged modernization in as many forms as possible in as many areas as possible. Militarily, he built up a navy, acquired additional lands for his country and developed a formidable fighting force. In the government, Peter initiated several reforms that divided the country’s rule between the local, provincial and central governmental levels. Unfortunately, many of the reforms he proposed in this area were never carried out to any lasting effect because of the ruling style of Peter himself. Reading about the decisions he made and why these decisions never seemed to be questioned, it seems clear that while he has been referred to as a great reformer and ‘a drunken frat boy’, his true nature was that of a cruel and unreasonable tyrant as is shown in his development of the military, indications of his invasive involvement in the lives of his people and through the types of entertainment he found amusing. . The development of the military is the first example of how Peter the Great exhibited cruel and unreasonable treatment of his people. According to the History Learning Site (“Peter the Great”, 2000), Peter learned how to torture people while he lived in Germany under his sister’s regency and “when back in Russia he formed a small army out of his servants and used them in live ammunition firing war games.” To build his nation’s army, Peter enacted laws that made it possible for him to conscript nobles and serfs into his army for lifelong service as well as introduced several types of taxes to help him pay for the army. These included the household tax, the soul tax which each man was expected to pay, the beard tax and taxes on horse collars, bee hives and other such random objects seen to tie Russia to an archaic past or contribute products for its future. “By 1725, Russia had 130,000 men in the army. Discipline was savage but by the death of Peter, the army was up to European standards” (“Peter the Great”, 2000). The development of his navy, done quickly and through the enforced control of foreign officers, begins to illustrate the single-minded dedication Peter took to such projects. These can be seen perhaps to greater degree in other elements of his rule. Reports regarding the social, religious and governmental changes attempted by Peter the Great reveal that much of what he tried to accomplish were either undertaken because of his maniacal need to control or were thwarted by the same. Although Peter did establish schools to educate his people, believing that an educated people would be more effective and productive, he was also well aware of the possibility of control inherent in mass forms of communication, such as the newspaper. While he encouraged young noblemen to travel to Europe to broaden their education, he “also expected the young and educated to shun Russian traditions and adopt what he considered to be western values. Beards were shaved off, western clothes were encouraged, the nobility were expected to hold western style tea parties and social gatherings” (“Peter the Great”, 2000). The state controlled everything from the raw materials to the labor force to the prices for finished goods and what could be sold on the open market. The state, in turn, was controlled by Peter. “He was an autocrat and he believed that everything should go through him. He was unwilling to delegate and allow people to make a final decision. He stifled initiative and such was his reputation, everybody worked in the way Peter wanted them to work. Few had the courage to buck the system in case they incurred the well-known wrath of the tsar” (“Peter the Great”, 2000). In making his church reforms, the primary goal in the steps he took are illustrated to have been driven by a jealous need to have all control fall to Peter rather than being faced with the possible threat of a second power rivaling his own within his country’s boundaries. The church, with its influence, labor pool and land holdings, was just the type of potential rival Peter feared. Finally, Peter’s notions of what constituted entertainment in the treatment of his friends and guests highlights the cruel streak he had running through him despite his attempts at reforming his country. Stories cited in History House (1996) are told by a Hanoverian emissary to Peter’s court, who “noted in October 1698 that at another banquet ‘Boyar Golovin has, from his cradle, a natural horror of salad and vinegar, so the Czar directing Colonel Chambers to hold him tight, forced salad and vinegar into his mouth and nostrils, until the blood flowing from his nose succeeded his violent coughing.” This sounds like a more unpleasant form of the controversial waterboarding practice currently being debated as to whether it is torture as it is defined in the Geneva Conventions or as a legal means of obtaining information as is maintained by the Bush administration, yet is viewed as entertainment here. This same emissary reported years later of the ‘entertainment’ he suffered at Peter’s directives during a stay in Peterhof palace. After being forced to drink so much alcohol it is surprising there aren’t reports of people dying from alcohol poisoning in one night, the guests were led to sleep in numerous inappropriate places, such as the woods, the grounds and the garden. “They were then awakened and forced to follow the Tsar in cutting down trees to make a new walk to the seashore. At supper they drank ‘such another dose of liquor, as sent us senseless to bed’, but an hour and a half later they were roused to visit the Prince of Cicassia (himself in bed with his wife)” (History House, 1996). There are several other reports of such abuses of guests following tremendous drinking bouts that sometimes began as early as breakfast and lasted all day. With evidence that Peter the Great treated his guests abominably, insisting that they drink well beyond what could have been good for them, even recognized in those times, and then conducting manual labor for his personal benefit or strenuous activity for his amusement, it is nearly impossible to consider that he would have treated his people with any greater respect. His insistence on maintaining total control over his country and his people prevented real reform to take place in those areas that needed it such as in the government and on the farms and forced control through in other areas such as the military and education. While he did bring about tremendous change for his people, he did so in a way that brooked no argument and was not concerned with the welfare of his people but instead was designed to increase the greatness of Peter himself. Read More