State Construction in Russia at the Beginning of the 18th Century: Legal oundations and Determination

The article offers a general overview of the reforms carried out by Peter I at the beginning of the 18th century. The author examines the main prerequisites and reasons for the reforms in the field of state and law, which affected many spheres of state and public life. The relevance of this work can be explained by the possibility of understanding past events as previous experience, the ability to predict the processes of transformation of the state and society and the use of such examples for the most favorable choice of action in the future. The author examines the period of the reign of Peter I, determines the legal framework of the reforms being implemented. The analysis was based on the decrees of Peter I, as well as various research works in the field of the history of the state and law of Russia of the late 17th — early 18th centuries. Transformations under consideration are divided into reforming the system of public administration that occupied a key place in the process of restructuring and was aimed at centralizing and streamlining the system of authorities; reforms in the military sphere due to the complex military-political situation that required the presence of a powerful army and navy, as well as highly qualified personnel. Reforms in the fields of economics and education are no less important — these changes were also determined largely by military necessity. However, they still played a big role in the long term. The author draws a conclusion about the significance and scale of transformations carried out at the beginning of the 18th century for the history of the state and law, emphasizes the pace of these reforms due to domestic and foreign policy circumstances.

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