Peter The Great

1
Peter The Great

• The European World

2
Peter the Great Visits the West

• 1697
• embarked on the Grand Embassy, a long visit to
  western Europe
• goal
• to learn about European customs and industrial
  techniques

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Peter the Great Visits the West

• 1696
• Peter was 24 years old when he became sole ruler
  of Russia

4
Peter the Great Visits the West

• visited the Netherlands, England and Austria
• kept his identity a secret

5
Peter the Great Visits the West

• wore the plain clothes of an ordinary worker and
  labored as a ships carpenter

6
Russias Differences from Europe

• serfdom continued in Russia until the mid 1800s

• in the Middle Ages, Russia had looked to
  Constantinople, not Rome for leadership

• Russians had adopted the Eastern Orthodox branch
  of Christianity

• Mongol rule had
• cut Russia off from the Renaissance and the Age
  of Exploration

7
The Reforms of Peter the Great

• brought the Russian Orthodox church under state
  control and set up the Holy Synod to run the
  church under his direction

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The Reforms of Peter the Great

• reduced the power of the great landowners by
  giving able men from lower-ranking families
  positions of authority

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The Reforms of Peter the Great

• modernized his army -
• hired European officers, who drilled his soldiers
  in European tactics with European weapons

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Westernizing Russia

• ordered the nobles to give up their traditional
  clothes for Western fashions

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Westernizing Russia

• introduced potatoes, which became a staple of the
  Russian diet

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Westernizing Russia

• started Russias first newspaper and edited its
  first issue himself

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Westernizing Russia

• raised womens status by having them attend
  social gatherings