What were the reforms and enlightened changes which both Peter the Great and catherine the Great brought to russia?

Answer 1

1. Peter faced a Russian army based on cavalry and not the sort of professional armies being formed in Europe.
2. He conquered Azov, then went on a long tour of inspection of Western Europe.
   1. He went to war against the absolutist king of Sweden (Charles XII)--eventually winning the Great Northern War.
   2. He reformed the army and forced the nobility to serve in his bureaucracy.
   3. His new (mainly peasant) army numbered 200,000 plus another 100,000 special troops.
   4. He created schools to train technicians for his army.
3. Army and government became more efficient and powerful as an interlocking militarycivilian bureaucracy was created and staffed by talented people.
4. Russian peasant life under Peter became more harsh.
   1. People replaced land as the primary unit of taxation.
   2. Serfs were arbitrarily assigned to work in the factories and mines.
5. Modest territorial expansion took place under Peter, and Russia became a European Great Power.
   1. Russia defeated Sweden in 1709 at Poltava to gain control of the Baltic Sea.
   2. Peter borrowed many Western ideas.