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[[File: 640px-Lomonosov Poltava 1762 1764.jpg |200px|thumb|left|Mosaic of Peter the Great at Poltava]]
==Economy==
The Great Northern War required unprecedented economic resources and Peter needed new revenue streams to pay for his reforms and his wars. The government was in a dire financial position because of Peter’s lavish expenditure. To raise money, Peter monopolized the salt, vodka and coal industries. Peter devised many ways to raise revenue even a tax on beards that caused an uproar among traditional Russians. The Tsar was persuaded that he needed to engage in major taxation reform. The solution was a new poll tax, that replaced all other taxes. The tax burden on the poorer orders increased dramatically. Peter introduced many new technologies into his country from the west and they helped to boost the economy. However, the country remained agrarian and private enterprise was stymied by the vast state monopolies and heavy taxation. Peter did begin the process of industrialization in his country when he set up state-workshops in the cities and towns. To boost Russian manufacturers also pursued proto-protectionist trade policies, placing heavy tariffs on imports and trade to maintain a favorable environment for Russian-made goods. Peter did not really modernize the Russian economy as he tightly controlled it and the country’s economy , as a result , did not fundamentally change <ref> Robert K. Massie, Peter the Great: His Life and World (London, Random House Publishing Group, 2012), p. 22</ref>.
[[File: 1200px-Bronze Horseman and St' Isaac's cathedral 1890-1900. |200px|thumb|left| Statue of Peter the Great in St Petersburg]]
==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.
