As written in the previous analysis, the Tsardom was a peripherical State in the Word System. However, Peter the Great was intended to transform his country in a European. Ascended to the throne in 1682, he became Emperor of all Russia in 1721 and died in 1725. In this analysis the main topic will be the rise of Russia in the European power system. This analysis is focused on the actions undertaken by Peter the Great only, since he laid the very pillars of the Russian Empire. The upsides and the downsides of the reforms undertaken by the first Emperor will be analysed, as well as how they worked.
The military factor
All empires are created through military force, and the Russian one was no exception. Peter the Great started the so-called “Azov Campaigns” (1695-1695) (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Peter-the-Great). The goal was to subjugate the Crimea’s Khanate and to get access to the Black Sea (again the importance of see access for power gaining). Those initiatives were successful. Crimean became part of the Russian Tsardom, and the Russians acquired access to warm waters again. There, Russian shipyard workers began to construct the very first seaworthy ships. Despite they could not enter the Mediterranean because of the Othmen controlled the Dardanelles. In addition, it is to point out that the world commerce’s balance was on the Atlantic yet.
Searching for help against the Turks, Tsar Peter embarked himself in the so-called “Great Embassy” from 1697 to 1698 through Western Europe (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Peter-the-Great/The-Grand-Embassy-1697-98). Despite he didn’t reach the goal according to the diplomatic point of view, he had the possibility to study the dynamic and innovative environment of Western Europe, from shipbuilding to schooling, from politics to military engineering. All in all, the mission was a success. The Russian monarch committed himself for the remaining 25 years of his reign to make Russia like the rest of Western Europe.
The Swedish Empire occupied vast portions of the Baltic shores, impeding access to another important maritime trade spot for the Tsardom. Apart from controlling commerce flow, the new Tsar was determined to further increase the number of war vessels he already started to build in Crimea.
That polity had been existing from 1612 to 1721 (https://www.britannica.com/event/Second-Northern-War). It was a powerful one dominating the Baltic Sea. Moreover, the Swedes had colonies around the globe.
In 1700, Peter the Great started hostilities with Sweden, after having crafted an alliance encompassing Norway, Denmark, Saxony and Russia. The war lasted 21 years and terminated with a Swedish defeat, the end of their Empire, and the proclamation of the Russian one (https://www.britannica.com/event/Second-Northern-War). In 1703 the city of Saint Peterburg was found by the Tsar (https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/st-petersburg-founded-by-peter-the-great) to support military operations. It became the Russian capital in 1712. Built through mass deportation of serfs into a marsh area, Saint Peterburg has been an example of a top-down approach to run the State, a recurring feature in Russian history. From this moment up to the deposition of monarchy in 1917, the Russian monarch’s title would have been “Emperor” (Russian: император).
According to Professor H. J. Morgenthau, founder of the Realist school in international relations, there are three kinds of imperialism: global, local and mixed[1]. Imperialists are the ones who always try to change the status quo to their favour, not the ones who try to maintain it[2]. Peter the Great changed the Russian balance of power in relation with Sweden and Turkey. Despite that, he didn’t alter the European balance of power in favour to Russia.
There is another important event occurred during the Second Northern War, that is the foundation of Saint Peterburg. That city, founded in 1703, responded to a demographic need of conquest and governance. To perform both tasks, a polity must rely on people living in the territory it aims at conquering and governing. Before that foundation, the Russians hadn’t populated entities living on the Baltic shores. It is no exaggeration to say that the future Russian capital played an important role at assuring the Tsar’s victory.
It is to underline that the military success achieved by Peter the Great was possible through aggravating the plebe’s burden in terms of military conscription. Moreover, the Russian society became a ranked one: the entire population went classified into hierarchical classes (not just peasants, but also aristocrats, bourgeoisie members, professionals, military officials etc.). Fluidity among classes became practically impossible because of the aggravated imposed feudal social order.
The economic factor
Peter the Great was not just a diplomat and a general. He was also an economic organizer. Given the absence of personal initiative in Russia, the State had to take the lead[3]. As written above, the Tsar travelled to Western Europe to import technology and organisational tools. But most important of all, the Russian Emperor realised that the new Russian Empire had to begin an industrialisation process. From Ivan the Terrible’s times, the Russian polity was dependant on British technology (mainly from Britain) to compensate the lack of domestic production. Despite the lack of coal, Russian had a lot of wood for melting iron.
The main goal of Russian industry was to develop military goods like cannons and muskets. In addition, shipbuilding through the implementation of arsenals was particularly important under Peter the Great. Despite the remarkable outcomes reached by Saint Peterburg, the Russian Empire became an exporter of semifinished metal products to Britain (which smelted more cast iron in 1805[4]). Another kind of exported goods were ropes, which the Royal Navy needed to rule the oceans. Nevertheless, Russia strengthened its role of exporter in the XVIII century: it added metalware to produce.
About the historical source of exportation in Russia, that is, agriculture, Peter the Great performed administrative reforms to make the exploitation of serfs more effective: he divided Russian into 7 administrative districts. They were simply responsible for implementing the governmental acts. Before this reform, and even though it was illegal, peasants were had more possibility to go around Russia in search for better life and work conditions like benign feudal lords, more easy-to-cultivate lands and more favourable weather conditions. The number of guberniya (local governments) was increased to 89 in the future.
What written in this section is the proof that in Russia there was a “Guns vs. Butter”[5] problem: the state must sacrifice consume and investments to keep a strong army and an assertive posture in the World System.
Conclusions
According to the author, the Russian Empire succeeded at becoming part of the European Concert, the global and most important one during the existence of the polity crafted by Peter the Great. However, Russia just became part of the European power system marginally, it didn’t shake it. During the Empire, Russia didn’t get the puissance to craft the international system to its own favour.
[1] Politics among nations, by H. Morgenthau. Published by Alfred A. Knopf, 1949.
[2] Politics among nations, by H. Morgenthau. Published by Alfred A. Knopf, 1949.
[3] Empire of the Periphery, by B. Kagarlitsky.
[4] Empire of the Periphery, by B. Kagarlitsky,
[5] Rise and fall of Great Powers, by P. Kennedy,
