Katie Lynch

Mr. Fronk

AP World History

28 March 2017

Peter the Great DBQ

Peter the Great is the sole reason Russian became a powerful and productive country, one

that is modernized and strong even to this day. Without his laws on clothing, beards, education,

and industry, Russia would not have become a major European power.

Peter the Great had traveled in disguise to various European countries to discover why

their cities were so prosperous. Russia was underdeveloped compared to every other European

nation. His trip gave him the ability to bring back knowledge of modernized fashions, military,

and industrial skills which he passed on to his people. One of the first things he changed to

modernize Russia was the clothing style people wore. According to a primary source by Peter

himself, he says from now on no one of the abovementioned is to wear Russian dress or

Circassian coats, sheepskin coats, or Russian peasant coats, trousers, boots, and shoes (4). The

purpose of this decree was to discourage old Russian wear and to encourage modern European

wear. Additionally, he changed the way men wear facial hair. It was traditional to grow Russian

beards really long and never cut them. In fact, a book about Peter written by Jean Rousset de

Missy states that there were many old Russians who, after having their beards shaved off, saved

them preciously, in order to have them placed in their coffins, fearing that they would not be

allowed to enter heaven without their beards (6). The audience of this book, written in 1730,

was anyone wanting to learn about how Russian became modernized and how the people
reacted. It was written very soon after Peters reign, so it preserved the history of the time. A

portrait of Peter found in the Library of Congress shows that he embraced European style. He

wore a thin mustache and European suit. It was necessary for Peter to force European style in

order for Russia to become modernized. Otherwise, their traditions would have held them back

and secluded them from the rest of the modernized world.

Peter also embraced education as a way to modernize Russia. A Bishop of England

described Peter and his ambitions to find ways to educate his people in a modern European way.

The Bishop states he was, indeed, resolved to encourage learning and to polish his people by

sending some of them to travel in other countries and to draw strangers to come and live among

them (1). Learning from experience, Peter concluded that living with others is an effective way

to adopt their customs. The Bishop who said this was an outsider. His point of view was as a

bystander, observing the way Peter desperately wanted to promote his society. Peter ultimately

decreed that children of nobility must be taught mathematics and geometry specifically or else

they will not be allowed to marry (2). The purpose of Peter saying this was to force education

upon the nobles. He took something important to people marriage and outlawed it unless

math was learned. In this way, he effectively encouraged education because people of nobility

who wished to marry had to learn it.

The last prominent way Peter modernized Russia was through industry. When he went to

Europe, he studied many things, and brought this knowledge back to his country. One of the

things that Russia was lacking was the means of productivity. By establishing factories that are

found in Europe, he could promote the prosperity of his people (5). To give a broader historical

context to this fact, one can consider how Europe was functioning in its factories. One major way

to produce energy was through the watermill. The water mill used running water to turn turbines
and was more productive than human power. By discovering this, Peter industrialized his

previously rural country.

Russia desperately needed Peter the Greats leadership. It was far behind any European

country. For example, Europe had had this work force called serfs, who were not necessarily

slaves but were tied to the land of rich men. Europe had abolished serfdom hundreds of years

before Russia even developed it. Therefore, one can conclude that without Peters modernizing

techniques, Russia would have continued to be hundreds of years behind its neighboring

countries.

Furthermore, Russia was just becoming a force to be reckoned with at this time. It had

not yet established its way of governing, as Peter was trying to change the way people lived. In

Europe, however, people were rebelling against the Church, which had previously been tied to

the government. The Reformation and Counter Reformation were occurring at the same time

Peter was trying to shave his mens beards. This gives a specific context to how far behind

Russia was compared to what revolutionary situations were going on in Europe.

Peters travels to Europe and subsequent effects can be compared to European conquest

of the Americas. Peter wanted to travel to grow and strengthen his country. European countries

like Spain, Portugal, England, and France also traveled to grow their territory and prosperity.

Peter brought back foreign ideas, which promoted his country. Europe experienced the

Columbian Exchange, which was the sharing of ideas, crops, and animals across the Atlantic.

Lastly, Peter established St. Petersburg as his window to the west. European countries

established their New World territories as their own western windows, each giving the original

countries money and trade items. It can be concluded that the expansion of an empire can only be

achieved if one collects ideas and systems from all over the world.
 Russia would have still been behind all other countries if not for Peter the Greats decrees

on clothing, beards, education, and industry. His travels can be compared to Europes travels to

the Americas because both events caused a growth in prosperity.