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====Administrative Reforms====
Peter’s administrative reforms all sought to counter the influence of the Boyars. The Tsar hated the nobles and did not trust them and many were opposed to his reforms as they threatened their privileges. Peter the Great established the Table of Ranks this was a complex system of titles and offices. The table had twenty-four ranks. Each rank had its own level of service to the Tsar. The establishment of the Table of Ranks was an attack on the power of the Boyars and transformed Russian society .<ref> Masie, p. 113</ref>. The reform abolished hereditary office holding and allowed new people to join the bureaucracy and state service. Peter established a meritocracy in the bureaucracy and to a lesser extent in the military. A new generation of technocrats emerged that dominated the civil service in Russia and who were, unlike the nobles, loyal to the Tsar. The new civil service governed Russia for two centuries and the Table of Ranks was only abolished by the Communists in 1917. Peter also established a series of ministries for the first time based on the European model. He also set up a Senate which was designed to counsel the Tsar. The Tsar was an autocrat and he gave sweeping powers to the bureaucracy and the elite. He also ended the autonomy of the Patriarch of the Orthodox Church and he turned the Church into a department of the state. The Tsar totally dominated the Church just as he did all other aspects of Russian life.<ref> Massie, p. 156</ref> Despite his reforms, Russia remained an autocracy and Peter was an absolute ruler.
====Military and Naval Reforms====
The Russian army that Peter inherited was a semi-professional militia that was recruited from villages and estates. The soldiers were poorly trained and armed. Peter knew that they were not able to match the Swedes and Ottomans in the battlefield. The Tsar turned the military into a professional force.<ref> Anisimov, Evgenii V. "The Reforms of Peter the Great: Progress through coercion in Russia, trans." John T. Alexander (Armonk, NY: ME Sharpe, 1993), p. 186 </ref> He appointed western officers to his army and to train the soldiers. Peter also established arsenals and workshops that produced modern weapons for the new army. Tsar Peter established a standing army in 1699 and he passed a law that conscripted some serfs and nobles for life. Despite his many reforms the nobles officered many units in the new army. Peter was particularly eager to establish a new navy. Prior to his reign Russia did not have a real maritime presence and was essentially landlocked. Peter imported skilled craftsmen and established shipyards. The monarch in doing so created the first Russian Navy and this not only allowed Peter to project his military power it also helped to boost maritime trade.
