First of all, the reform of Peter I greatly enhanced Russia's military strength and ensured that Russia defeated Sweden, a military power in Europe at that time, in the Northern War, thus making "Russia gain a firm foothold in the Baltic Sea" and "enter the ranks of powerful countries". By 1725, Russia has a well-trained modern standing army of more than 200,000 people. There was no navy in Russia before. By the end of Peter I's reign, the Russian Baltic Fleet had 895 ships of all kinds and 28,000 sailors.
Secondly, the reform of Peter I rearranged Russian politics, weakened the decision-making power of nobles, strengthened centralization and improved the efficiency of administrative management. Pokrovski, a famous Russian historian, once thought that Peter I's administrative reform had the color of modern bourgeois reform and created a modern Russian deliberative system. In particular, the Official Rank Table promulgated by 1722 embodies Peter I's thought of "using only quantity" and "appointing people on merit", which challenges the decadent tradition of selecting officials according to their noble family status and makes a large number of people with humble origins and both ability and political integrity stand out. This is of positive significance for innovating politics, recruiting talents and improving administrative efficiency. The "one-son inheritance law" forced many children of meritorious aristocrats to go into the sea to do business, join the army, study and "find their own jobs", which was another heavy blow to the old Russian aristocratic forces. The Law on Succession to the Throne abolished the old principle of succession to the throne, and the tsar was free to choose his own successor. All these have played an important role in rectifying politics and strengthening imperial power.
In addition, the reform of Peter I promoted Russia's gradual progress towards a modern country and objectively created conditions for the development of Russian capitalism. Lenin pointed out that Europeanization of Russia "began even in the era of Peter the Great". The reform of Peter I broke the backward state of Russia's closed door and made the social productive forces develop rapidly. It was at the beginning of the18th century that modern industry and commerce in Russia began to develop and a new bourgeoisie began to form. At the same time as the emerging bourgeoisie began to appear, "the bud of the industrial proletariat was discovered" among the exploited working people. Through reform, modern Russian mining enterprises have mushroomed. By 1725, more than 240 modern workshops have been established in Russia, with fine internal division of labor and many of them are relatively large. For example, the official building sail workshop in Moscow has 1 162 workers, the Xie Guolin wool mill has 730 workers, and the official mikhailov wool mill has 742 workers. Compared with the early stage of workshop handicraft industry, the proportion of private capital in industry has increased. The number of employed workers has also greatly increased, capitalist relations of production have developed to a certain extent, and Russian workshops and handicrafts have basically caught up with Britain. Especially the metallurgical industry has developed rapidly. 17 18 years, Russia's pig iron output has reached1600,000 putt, ranking first in the world. Iron and linen produced in Russia have been exported to the British market. With the development of Russian workshops and handicrafts, the national economic structure has changed significantly, and urban and rural commercial trade has begun to transform into capitalism in an all-round way. Russia has been able to actively participate in the commercial competition in the capitalist world market. By the end of Peter I's reign, Russia exported 4.2 million rubles of goods every year.
Third, the reform of Peter I promoted the development of Russian culture, education and science and technology. During the reform of Peter I, mining schools were established in Urals and Karelia. Moscow, Petersburg and other cities have successively opened military schools and other schools. By the 181920s, arithmetic schools had been established in more than 40 cities.
10.2,1703,65438+was published in Moscow, which is the first officially printed newspaper in Russia. It reports major political events and military information at home and abroad, and also publishes information on domestic economic construction, such as the construction of handicraft workshops in various places, the discovery of metal deposits and so on.
17 10, Peter I ordered a simple new font to replace the complicated church Slavic alphabet. Because of the new font, it is more convenient to print books, and all kinds of books can be printed in large quantities. Some scientific and technological books in western European countries, such as military science, shipbuilding, architecture, mathematics works, etc. , has been translated into Russian and published one after another. During Peter's reign, Russia also established the first museum, the first public library and the first batch of public theaters.
1October 28th,1724,65438+Peter I issued an order on the establishment of Russian Academy of Sciences, which is of great significance to the development of Russian science and culture. The Academy of Sciences was established in 1725, and consists of three parts: mathematics, physics and social science. It is not only a research center, but also a teaching institution. Universities and middle schools are attached to it, which directly trains researchers. Lomonosov studied here and later became a famous Russian scientific leader.
In a word, the reform of Peter I is of modern significance. It reflects the requirements of the times and creates conditions for the development of Russian capitalism.