OCR Specification focus:
‘education; developments in industry and agriculture position of peasants’
Peter the Great’s reforms of education, industry, and agriculture formed the backbone of Russia’s drive towards modernisation, profoundly affecting both elites and peasants.
Education under Peter the Great
Expansion of Learning
Peter recognised that Russia’s backwardness compared with Western Europe stemmed in part from its lack of an educated elite. Education became a strategic tool for state service.
Schools were established to provide technical and practical instruction, particularly in navigation, artillery, and engineering.
Peter imported foreign experts to teach modern sciences and skills, especially mathematics and shipbuilding.
The School of Mathematics and Navigation in Moscow (1701) was a landmark, signalling a break from the traditional dominance of the Church in education.
In 1701 Peter founded the School of Mathematics and Navigation in Moscow’s Sukharev Tower to train navigators, engineers and gunners.
Compulsory Service Education
To supply the state with capable officials and officers, Peter required the sons of nobles and officials to attend schools. Education was tied directly to state service obligations.
State Service: A requirement that nobles serve the Tsar in military or administrative roles, which Peter extended by linking it to formal education.
The Role of the Church and Western Influence
Though the Orthodox Church retained some control of learning, Peter curbed its influence by prioritising secular and scientific subjects. Western textbooks and curricula were imported, reflecting his aim to Europeanise Russian elites.
Higher Education and Specialised Training
Academy of Sciences (1725) established in St Petersburg, inspired by institutions in Paris and Berlin.
Medical schools, engineering academies, and artillery colleges produced a new technical intelligentsia.
Education was still narrow in reach, largely limited to the nobility and urban classes, leaving peasants untouched by formal schooling.
Developments in Industry
Driving Industrial Growth
Peter aimed to make Russia self-sufficient in producing weapons, ships, and military supplies. Industrialisation was primarily state-driven.
Large-scale iron and copper foundries were established, especially in the Urals, where abundant resources were available.
The state encouraged private investment but also directly founded and managed factories when necessary.
By 1725, Russia was among Europe’s leading producers of iron, crucial for its military power.
In the Urals, new blast furnaces and hammer mills multiplied under Demidov patronage, supplying cannon, nails and anchors.
Schematic of a blast furnace showing the stack, bosh, tuyeres, bustle pipe, and tapholes used to smelt iron. The cutaway clarifies the upward gas flow and zones where ore softens and melts before tapping. While not Russian-specific, it depicts the standard technology adopted in Ural ironworks. Source
Use of Forced Labour
Industrial growth came at a heavy social cost. Many factories depended on serf labour, often forcibly relocated to work in harsh conditions.
Workers were frequently bound to factories much like they were bound to the land, creating industrial serfdom.
Productivity increased, but resentment and harsh working conditions meant this system was socially unsustainable.
Growth of New Sectors
Shipbuilding became a priority, with naval dockyards at Voronezh and St Petersburg.
Industries producing textiles, glass, and paper also expanded, reflecting Peter’s broader aim to reduce imports and strengthen economic independence.
Developments in Agriculture
Traditional Peasant Farming
Despite industrial advances, agriculture remained largely traditional and inefficient. Most peasants practised subsistence farming, using medieval tools such as the wooden plough.
Most peasants continued to use the sokha (a light wooden plough) and practise three-field rotation, limiting yields and marketable surpluses.
A 19th–early 20th-century sokha from the Kolomna local museum. Its lightweight, largely wooden construction illustrates the conservative toolset found in much of rural Russia under Peter. This photo includes the object only; any modern display label is not part of the period artefact. Source
State Demands and Peasant Burden
Agriculture was central to Russia’s fiscal system:
Taxation relied heavily on the peasantry, especially after the poll tax of 1719, which replaced household taxation with a head tax.
Peasants also provided recruits for the army and labour levies for infrastructure and industrial projects.
Poll Tax (1719): A per-head tax introduced by Peter the Great, levied on all male peasants and townsmen, increasing state revenue but deepening peasant hardship.
Limited Agricultural Innovation
Unlike industry, agriculture saw little genuine reform:
No major new farming techniques were introduced.
Landowners focused on extracting more labour rather than investing in productivity.
Expansion into new territories (such as the steppe lands) marginally increased agricultural output.
Position of the Peasants
Peasants bore the greatest burden of reform. Their role underpinned the economy, yet their conditions worsened:
Serfdom deepened as nobles’ control tightened to ensure a reliable labour force.
Many peasants faced forced migration to new lands or industrial centres.
Heavy taxation and conscription led to widespread resentment, sometimes erupting in local revolts.
Interconnection of Education, Industry, and Agriculture
Peter’s reforms were not isolated measures but part of a coherent vision:
Education produced the skilled officials and officers needed to run an expanding bureaucracy and modern army.
Industry supplied the weapons, ships, and resources essential for Russia’s new military power.
Agriculture, though stagnant, supported the state financially and provided manpower.
However, the imbalance between rapid industrial and educational progress and the stagnation of agriculture highlighted the contradictions of Peter’s reign. The elite became increasingly Europeanised, while the peasantry remained trapped in feudal backwardness, setting the stage for enduring social tensions in Russia.
FAQ
Peter believed Russia’s survival depended on military and naval strength, which required modern skills. Traditional Orthodox education focused on theology, so he redirected learning towards mathematics, navigation, and engineering to prepare officials and officers for state service.
Foreign experts filled Russia’s knowledge gap in areas like shipbuilding, metallurgy, and medicine.
Dutch and English shipwrights taught at naval schools.
German and Swedish metallurgists worked in the Urals.
Doctors from Western Europe helped establish medical training.
Their presence exposed Russian elites to Western practices and accelerated reform.
By the 1720s, Russia’s Ural region rivalled Sweden in iron output. The abundance of natural resources gave Russia an advantage, though reliance on forced labour meant productivity was uneven and lacked the efficiency of free-labour economies in Western Europe.
Yes. Although farming techniques remained outdated, Peter restructured taxation and census-taking to maximise peasant contributions.
The poll tax (1719) standardised revenue collection.
Censuses ensured more accurate records of taxable males.
This was administrative innovation rather than agricultural improvement, but it still transformed how peasants were tied to state finances.
The sokha symbolised both continuity and backwardness. It was cheap to construct, easy to repair, and suited to Russia’s vast, varied soils. However, its inefficiency meant peasants remained trapped in subsistence cycles, highlighting the gulf between industrial advances and stagnant agriculture.
Practice Questions
Question 1 (2 marks)
Name one educational institution founded by Peter the Great and explain its main purpose.
Mark Scheme:
1 mark for correctly naming an institution (e.g. School of Mathematics and Navigation or Academy of Sciences).
1 mark for identifying its purpose (e.g. training navigators and engineers; advancing scientific research; preparing officials for state service).
Question 2 (6 marks)
Explain how Peter the Great’s reforms in industry and agriculture affected the Russian peasantry.
Mark Scheme:
Award up to 6 marks for the following points. Credit specific knowledge and explanation.
1 mark for identifying reliance on serf labour in industry.
1 mark for noting peasants were often forcibly relocated to work in factories or mines.
1 mark for mentioning introduction of the poll tax (1719) as a burden on peasants.
1 mark for explaining that peasants provided conscripts for the army and labour for infrastructure projects.
1 mark for noting traditional tools (e.g. sokha wooden plough) meant no improvement in peasant farming.
1 mark for explaining that overall conditions worsened, deepening serfdom and fuelling resentment.
Credit any other relevant and accurate points linked directly to effects on the peasantry. Partial explanations should receive 1 mark; fuller, developed explanations should receive 2 marks where appropriate.
