Changes

Russia was a vast and sprawling country but it was backward and traditional. Under the Romanov Dynasty, the country had expanded and had become a vast kingdom. While Europe was modernizing and developing new technologies and ideas, Russia remained insular. It had few urban centres, no real infrastructure and it was an agrarian society. Much of the country was ruled by Boyars or nobles who ruled vast estates almost as independent sovereigns. They regularly defied the Tsar’s orders and they competed for influence over the Tsars. Russia despite being rich in resources was poor.<ref> Bushkovitch, Paul. Peter the Great: The Struggle for Power, 1671–1725 (Cambridge, Cambridge Press, 2001), p 6</ref>  This was because the government of the country was archaic. Much of the population were serfs, who were not legally free and they were effectively owned by the landowning class. Russia was still very much a feudal society even as Europe was about to enter the Enlightenment. The Russian Orthodox Church was also very powerful and its Patriarch was second in power only to the Tsar. Russia was encircled by many enemies, it was menaced by many powerful enemies including the Swedish and Ottoman Empires, who frequently threaten its territories.<ref>Bushkovitch, p. 134</ref>