Reforms of Peter the Great and their role in the development of the state

For a relatively short period of time, Peter the First managed to bring the Russian state out of the shadow - thanks to its reforms, Russia became one of the leading powers in the arena of world life. This happened after the introduction of changes that affected almost all aspects of life (especially the economic reforms of Peter the Great).

The reforms of Peter the Great primarily concerned the transformation of the central administration. As a result, the Boyar Duma was abolished and replaced by the Near Chancellery, which in 1708 was renamed the Council of Ministers.

The next item on the list of reforms was the creation of the Government Senate (in 1711), which became the highest government institution. He took part in legislative, administrative and judicial matters.

Reforms of Peter the Great 1718-1720-ies. Abolished cumbersome and unwieldy laws and introduced colleges - originally there were 11: the Foreign Affairs Collegium, which was in charge of foreign policy affairs; The military collegium, which ruled all the land forces of the country; The Admiralty is a collegium in charge of the navy; The Berg College was engaged in the mining industry; The justice collegium subordinated to itself a civil and criminal court, etc.

Also, the Decree on Unanalysis, signed in 1714 by Peter the First, was not unimportant. The reforms were as follows: according to this document, the estates of the nobles were now equal to the boyars' estates, and the introduction of this decree was aimed at the destruction of the boundaries between the patrimonial and noble nobility. Moreover, now there was no difference between the boyar and noble land. A little later, in 1722, Peter accepted the Table of Ranks, which finally erased the boundaries between the new and old aristocracy and completely equalized them.

In 1708, to strengthen the apparatus of power and increase its influence, regional reform was introduced: the country was divided into eight provinces. The logical conclusion of this was the reform of the city administration: more and more cities were appearing, and accordingly the population of the country was growing (by the end of the reign of Peter the Great, 350 thousand people lived in large towns). Yes, and the composition of the urban population was complex: the main part were small artisans, townspeople, traders and entrepreneurs.

Under Peter the first the process of the transformation of the church was completely completed - the reforms of Peter the Great turned it into an important state institution subordinated to the organs of the highest secular power. After the death of Patriarch Adrian, the king forbade the election of a new patriarch, referring to the unexpectedly begun Northern War. At the head of the patriarchal throne was appointed Stefan Yavorsky. After the Northern War, Peter abolished the patriarchate altogether. The administration of all church affairs and issues was entrusted to the Spiritual Board, after it was renamed the Holy Synod of the Government, which completely transformed the church into a powerful pillar of Russian absolutism.

But the great transformations and reforms of Peter the Great brought with them a lot of problems, the main ones of which were toughening of serfdom and the development of bureaucracy.