What impact did Peter I’s reforms have on Russia?

The reforms of Peter I turned Russia into a modern country that was beginning to take shape. In life, Peter I encouraged citizens to practice Western lifestyles and use modern Western civilization to influence the residents of the country. Under his advocacy, the people began to wear suits and hats, hold dance parties, and hold salons, moving closer to a more civilized lifestyle.

Under his orders, Russia established the first museums, the first libraries, the first public theaters, and the first parks. Peter I required these public facilities to be open to the public free of charge in order to achieve the purpose of "enable people to broaden their horizons and learn with heart".

In the garden of the Summer Palace in Petersburg, Peter I ordered the production of many statues of characters from "Aesop's Fables" and placed them throughout the garden so that visitors could think and achieve enlightenment. Purpose. This is evident from the profound intention of Peter I in educating the people.

Peter I also carried out a thorough religious reform. The reform began with the confiscation of church property, depriving the church of its power to purchase and exchange land, and bringing church land under the jurisdiction of secular officials. At the same time, the position of archbishop was abolished and a special religious committee was established to manage religion.

The Religious Council was later renamed the General Administration of Religious Affairs. The members of the General Administration were appointed by the tsar, the director was a layperson, and the supreme patriarch of the Orthodox Church was concurrently appointed by the tsar. Through the above reforms, the Orthodox Church was completely reduced to a vassal of the Tsar, and no longer had the power to intervene in politics. Its duties were limited to educating the people in the spiritual field and serving the country. From then on, there was no longer a dispute between religious power and secular power in Russia.

The Reformation not only deprived the church of its rights, but also changed the lives of church personnel. Peter I believed that the life of religious personnel should be simple and simple, and required church personnel, both men and women, to master a craft "for the permanent and temporary benefit of the people", such as carpentry, painting icons, spinning, sewing, lace weaving, etc. At the same time, it was ordered that all priests and priests' children must receive Greek-Latin education, and those without education were not allowed to inherit their father's position. In addition, monasteries in various places also have new tasks, such as raising funds for schools, providing care for the elderly, weak, sick and disabled, and disabled soldiers.

The reforms of Peter I completely changed the face of Russia. A rudimentary modern country is gradually covering the weak and backward medieval country. With the penetration of reforms, Russia's national power gradually grew, laying the foundation for its victory in the 21-year Northern War. When Russia gained access to the Baltic Sea, it became a powerful European power. As a result, Russia developed from a landlocked country to a coastal country.

On October 22, 1721, the Russian Senate collectively decided to award Peter I the titles of "Emperor of All Russia" and "Father of the Fatherland". Looking at Peter I's lifetime achievements, he single-handedly improved the The appearance of Russia has pushed Russia to the "top of Europe". His contribution to Russia is indeed worthy of the title of the Great. After that, Russia began to dominate Eurasia under the title of "Russian Empire".

In the past, when Russia was founded, it could only govern a small area. Now the Russian Empire spans Europe and Asia. The formation of its huge territory is naturally inseparable from the continuous development of Russian rulers in the past. It can be said that the history of Russia before modern times was a history of territorial expansion.

In the past, when Russia was founded, it could only govern a small area. Now the Russian Empire spans Europe and Asia. The formation of its huge territory is naturally inseparable from the continuous development of Russian rulers in the past. It can be said that the history of Russia before modern times was a history of territorial expansion. Starting from Kievan Rus, the princes have been committed to expanding their living space outwards. Russia's large-scale expansion began after the expulsion of Mongolia. The successors of the Grand Dukes of Moscow expanded their influence outwards from the four directions of south, north, west and east.

In the south, Russia conquered the Black Sea, the Caucasus and Central Asia. Not only did it seize the southern seaport and establish the Black Sea Fleet, it also completely annexed Central Asia and formed an alliance with the Qing government from the west and north. The power of encirclement. In the north, it competed with Sweden for the Baltic Sea outlet and succeeded. In the west, Ukraine was annexed and Poland was divided.

In the east, it conquered Siberia and expanded its power to Alaska in North America. It also annexed more than 1 million square kilometers of territory in northeastern and northwest China. After hundreds of years of expansion, Russia has expanded from a territory of more than 3 million square kilometers during the Muscovy period to more than 20 million square kilometers, becoming a superpower spanning Europe and Asia.

When it comes to Russia today, we are still amazed by its unparalleled vast territory. But we know that Russia’s territory was not formed in a short period of time, but experienced the active expansion of several generations of monarchs. As early as the period of Mongol rule, the princes of the Principality of Muscovy began to expand their territory. By the time of Ivan III and Vasily III, Rus had basically achieved unification and gradually developed from small divided principalities to an area of ??nearly 3 million. A big country with square kilometers.

After Ivan IV took office, he regarded the expansion of territory as an unswerving cause. With the efforts of him and his successors, Russia’s territory increased exponentially and finally became the world’s largest territory. The largest country in the world. In the process of Russian territorial expansion, the Kazan Khanate was the first to be involved. In 1438, the Tatar aristocrat Uluru Muhan established the Kazan Khanate with Kazan as its capital, which was controlled by the Golden Horde.

The Kazan Khanate is located in the middle reaches of the Volga River, close to Russia, and the two countries often fight.

During the lifetime of Ivan III, he once occupied Kazan and established a puppet government in the Khanate. However, the puppet government was unreliable. After the rise of the Ottoman Turkish Empire, it surrendered to the Ottomans. As a result, the Khanate split into two factions of power: the "Moscow faction" and the "Crime faction". The forces of the two factions will continue to change with the growth and decline of the strength of the two countries behind them. Ivan IV's conquests against the Kazan Khanate were held four times. The first three attacks were counterattacked after the first success, and the other two had to be abandoned due to weather conditions.

On June 16, 1552, Ivan IV personally led an army of 150,000 to launch the fourth attack on Kazan. The soldiers and civilians of Kazan resisted to the death. In October, Kazan was defeated and became Russian territory. After capturing Kazan, Ivan IV divided its territory and awarded it to Russian lords and feudal nobles. Those who were loyal to the Tsar in Kazan stayed where they were, while those who were suspected of having second thoughts about the Tsar were moved to various counties in central Russia. The Kazan Khanate was destroyed.

After the fall of Kazan, the neighboring Astrakhan Khanate became the new target of the Russian rulers. In 1554, Ivan IV sent 30,000 troops to attack the Astrakhan Khanate. Perhaps because the conquest of the country was extremely smooth, Ivan IV did not treat the Astrakhan Khanate like the Kazan Khanate, but controlled it by fostering a puppet regime. Unfortunately, the puppet regime is very unreliable and frequently shows favor to neighboring countries. Ivan IV was very angry and sent troops to conquer again. This crusade was relatively thorough. Except for the land that was entrusted to lords and nobles, other areas were directly managed by Russian governors.

After the Kazan Khanate and the Astrakhan Khanate were merged into Russia, Russia's territory expanded to the south by more than 1,000 kilometers, greatly expanding Russia's territory. However, Russia's journey south does not stop there. After swallowing the two khanates of Kazan and Astrakhan, Ivan IV built a defense line in the southeast, called the "Tula Deer Village" defense line. This line of defense started from Ryazan, crossed the Oka River and Tula to Kozelsk, to prevent the invasion of the Crimean Tatars.

The Crimean Khanate was founded in 1443 and is located on the peninsula on the northern coast of the Black Sea. It is a relatively late feudal country. In 1475, the khanate was conquered by the Ottoman Turks and became a vassal state of the Ottoman Turkish Empire. Under the majesty of the Ottoman Turkish Empire, the Crimean Khanate rampaged across the northern shores of the Black Sea in an attitude of bullying the weak and fearing the strong, and from time to time it invaded Poland and the newly unified Russia.

As mentioned earlier, the newly unified Russia is still relatively weak in national strength. It has almost no ability to resist the Crimean invasion and can only strengthen the construction of defense lines. Between 1630 and 1640, Russia built nearly 30 fortified cities in the south.

Take the Belgorod Defense Line as an example. The defense line stretches thousands of miles, from Akhtilka on the Vorskla River in the west to Datambov in the east. Passing through Belgorod, Voronezh, Kozlov and other cities, it protects the security of Rus' territory. Russia shifted from defensive to offensive mode.