Tristan Maracha Mr. McKinney Global 10 December 18, 2014 Peter the Great What is an absolute monarch? This is a form of government in which the ruling monarch has absolute power amongst the people. The royal government is dominant and ruling over its own aristocrats and all of the other authorities. Basically, in absolutism, there are no other powers that can hold more ground than the monarchy itself. There are many absolute monarchs that are present in our society and even to this day, However, I firmly believe that Peter the Great is the epitome of the various absolute monarchs who ruled from 1682 - 1725. Prior to Peter the Great, Russia was disorganized and did not hold a major influence or power globally. Peter the Great used methods …show more content…
Peter the Great was a descendant of the Romanov family who started his co-rule with his brother since he was ten years old. When his brother died in 1896, only then did Peter become the sole tsar of Russia. However, at the time, Russia did not have a developed military, government, or technology as that of the other countries in Europe. At the start of the Peter’s reign as tsar, he had taken part in the conquest against the Ottoman Empire in an effort to gain land in order to secure a Russian port in the coast of the Black Sea. In Compared to Europe, Russia was much less advanced. As a result, Peter toured Europe seeking to use Western ideas in order to help Westernize Russia. Peter was able to work with Germans who lived in Russia and studied the German army. In addition, Peter also studied Europe’s philosophy and science. He was so involved in refining Russia’s structure, that he visited various European countries under an alias in order to be one with the crowd and study European customs and methods. Peter’s goal was “to make his country a great power commensurate with its size and potential so that it might forever be safe from foreign invasion or domination.” ( Peter the Great. Historic) Due to the fact that there was a lack of teachers in the Russia, thus a lack of education, foreign teachers were needed in order to Westernize Russia even further. In addition, Europeans of various backgrounds and different professions were invited into Russia and in turn, Russian nobles were sent to the west to be educated. (Peter the Great.
Peter the Great led Russia to its modern and powerful time, at the same time Louis XIV also made his people see the rise of a stronger France which under the rule of him. They suffered their people but also bring them new life so that is hard to judge who is better, but as a leader, Louis XIV created the grandest court in history of France and made France became the leading cultural and military power of Europe. Peter the Great was successfully involved in every part of Russians’ life such as what people wore and read. Louis XIV made his country become much more powerful and respectful in the world stage so he was considered better than Peter the Great.
As a conclusion Peter the Great of Russia should receive the title of “Most Absolute Monarch” because he was wise, yet cruel. He created Russia's navy, but required an education before the men could join. He was fond of physical labor and didn't mind putting his men through it. Peter also westernized the entire country of Russia. Since beards were not a fashion in westernization, Peter made it mandatory for all of his nobleman to shave their beards off. He wanted Russia to be westernized completely. Peter was very strong and was not afraid of anyone's criticism. When his people tried to overthrow him (which was multiple times), it usually ended with mass executions. Peter had to let everyone know who was boss. He even interrogated his own son because of faulty reasoning. He also was a very strong Protestant Christian and made everyone follow him as a Christian. To get down to it, if things didn't go Peter's way, it all ended
Peter the Great had many strengths, but his best was he modernized Russia. By seeing Europe, he changed many things. He changed the calendar so the New Year would be January 1. He increased agriculture by growing new crops and increased the number of factories in Russia. He also started the first Russian newspaper and enlarged their army to 200,000 men. He also got a warm water port for his “window on the sea.”
Peter the Great was born to Tsar Alexis and grew up differently than many people of his time. “Peter proved a healthy child, lively and inquisitive. It is probably significant to his development that his mother’s former guardian, Artamon Sergeyevich Matveyev, had raised her in an atmosphere open to progressive influences from the West” (Britannica Academica). The fact that he grew up with a significant figure in his life who favored the west shaped his views in a major. Later in his reign, he focused on western civilization and how they thrived. Peter tried to implicate the same influences in Russia to further try and modernize and advance the culture, society, and government. Peter was a very lively and energetic child. “When Alexis died in 1676 Peter was only four years old. His elder half-brother, a sickly youth, then succeeded to the throne as Fyodor III” (Britannica
According to the text book, an absolute monarch is a king or queen who has unlimited power and seeks to control all aspects of society (McDougall little, 1045). In more simple terms, it is a ruler who can do just about anything without having to get permission from anyone, or having to worry about the repercussions. This was a trend that started in the 1600’s by European leaders who were rich, and didn’t
Document 2 describes how he demanded all nobles to learn mathematics, or else they would not be allowed to marry. Perhaps influenced by his trips to Europe, Peter placed high emphasis on learning and making sure the people of his country were educated. The document illustrates that he made specific laws to educate the nobility, therefore educating and improving the country as a whole. Since it is from a decree by Peter I himself toward the people, this document is a reliable source of information for how he governed the country during his rule and can be used to demonstrate how he educated Russia. Creating the Table of Ranks, a system of government that chose officials based on merit instead of social status, would also help him ensure that Russia improved intellectually. Document 3 is another decree from Peter that starts off by explaining how he wants what is best for the people of Russia and wants them to be educated and skilled. In order to do that, he continues, foreign artisans are invited to visit Russia to spread their knowledge and craft. Peter I is a major proponent of learning things from other countries to apply to his own country, and that is made obvious by how he encourages all foreigners to come to Russia. He wants to help his country become as advanced as other countries and does that by inviting skilled foreigners to come work for him. The purpose of this piece was the influence outsiders to move to Russia, so it may be written more persuasive. Peter describes how he is helping the citizens and doing what is best to improve the country, but since he needs to appease the people, it might not be completely accurate to his real motives. Since the piece was written by one person, it’s hard to know if this decree was influential or not, but it still shows the steps that Peter the Great took to improve
Catherine the Great is a absolute monarchy the reason why Catherine the Great is a absolute monarchy is because she intended on modernizing her country. She had ruled as the Empress of Russia more than thirty years after Peter III (husband) had been murdered but however Peter the Great had been using force. But Catherine decided to establish reforms that would improve the Russians society that wouldn't require her to use force on her people. She had improved education for the middle class and nobles but she had also modern agriculture. But while under her leadership the Russians had gained military success and territory. Russian was brought to the modern age but not only that it was also retaining an absolute monarchy by the time she had died in 1796.
One step Peter the Great took to modernise Russia was promoting diversity. Document 1 states that Peter sent some of his people to other countries to bring others back. By doing this, he made or transformed Russia to a more diverse and modernized nation, through means of introducing new culture religion and ways of life. Another step he took was that he encouraged education. As seen in Document 2 he had a person from a mathematics school sent to every region to teach the
Absolutism created a time of prosperity throughout the 1500s and the 1600s. At this point of history, absolutism was an efficient way of running a government. Absolutist leaders were vigorous, assertive and a potent symbol of authority. The amount of growth in countries such as Russia was both efficient and effective because the power of authority was concentrated into one person’s hands. Absolutism enabled Peter the Great to modernize and adapt Russia for war, commerce and industrial growth. Additionally, absolutism gave people a powerful leader they needed to trust in and depend on for their country's sake. This type of regnant is most evident King James I of England and King Louis XIV of France. For example, King James I of England
In the latter half of the 1600 's, monarchial systems of both England and France were changing. Three royal figure throughout history who all tried to establish a role of absolutism in their societies all of them had varying factors with the greatest success from least to greatest being Charles I, Louis XIV, and Peter the Great. Absolutism is a form of government where a king or queen rules with unrestricted powers. They are often followed in heredity by passing on the leadership through bloodlines. All over the world these bloodlines still exist except, that most of them only remain as a symbolic figure or a person of fame. A couple of monarchs that still rule are Brunei, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Swaziland, the emirates comprising the UAE, and Vatican City.
Peter recognized that his country was falling behind the European countries in knowledge, technology, trade, and governing ability. Using his absolute power as a czar, he brought in foreign advisers to help him modernize, westernize and educate his people. Peter had a great respect for Europe, and his reforms had a lasting influence in Russia, though there was of course opposition from the more conservative nobles.
When a ruler holds power that is only second to the divine being themselves, an absolute monarch is born. In a way, an absolute monarch is the closest personification of God during medieval and renaissance Europe. Throughout history, Europe has been home to many individuals that helped define the term absolutism and absolute monarchy. Most notably are Louis XIV of France and Peter the Great of Russia during the late 1700s. Both had considerable power and encapsulated the fundamental characteristics of an absolute monarch.
An absolute monarch is a ruler by divine right who has control over every portion of his kingdom. The most famous absolute monarch, Louis XIV, had the longest reign of any of the French kings. Louis achieved this as a result of his reformed laws, foreign policy, a smart economic advisor, and his decision to deny power to the nobility. Although some of these ideas could be viewed as having a negative impacting on France, overall Louis XIV's absolute government was beneficial to the development of his country.
During the late 1400s and 1500s, many rulers took great measures to centralize political power and place it in their own hands. This lead to the occurrence of absolute monarchies, some of which I thought were overall very effective. In absolute monarchies, theoretically the monarch is all-powerful, with no legal limitations to his or her authority. Absolutism in Europe was characteristically justified by the doctrine of divine right, according to which the monarch reigns all-powerfully by the will of God. The intention of absolute monarchs is to utilize his or her power in an effective, better-organized way, despite its weaknesses or negative consequences; and from my perspective, I would have to say
The reforms and westernization of Peter the Great made Russia a more modern and stronger power in Europe under his rule and until his death in 1725. Peter was a powerful and forceful leader with a vision. He wanted to westernize Russia and bring the state to a more modern era in order to compete with Europe for goods and services.