The reforms of Peter the Great – more harmful than good?

[Quintus.JC]

The reforms of Peter the Great is commonly lauded among both Western and Russian historians as having laid the foundations of an imperial state which secured the country’s status as one of the world’s leading powers in subsequent centuries. However, a negative view of Peter the revolutionary did stem from the ‘Slavophiles’ who challenged the view of the Westernisers that Peter’s changes had been to the benefit of Russia; instead they have condemned Peter as the creator of a cultural, social and spiritual divide between masses and elite which ultimately sown the seeds of the Bolshevik revolution.

Even though most of us in the west would assume that Peter’s reforms was good and had elevated Russia as an equal to the western powers, the Slavophiles do appear to make an interesting case. So what does everyone thinks of Peter and his reforms, did it really do more harms than good?