Peter found answers to many of his problems in Russia by transplanting ideas from the West. When he said after his humiliation at Narva that Russia would learn from the Swedes how eventually to defeat them, he was expressing his underlying attitude to change. In 1697-1699, he went on a Grand Tour of England and Holland called the "Embassy to the West". This was for diplomatic and technological reasons - to harness support of the West against the Turks and bring back skilled workers to Russia. After visiting Versailles in 1717, Peter began to upgrade the courtly image, employing a variety of foreign artists and architects. However, his main emphasis was still practical, as shown by the fact that the most important building housed the Senate and Colleges, not court. Peter promoted direct contact with French, Dutch, German, and E

It is difficult to assess how effectively Peter carried out his plans for meeting Russia's needs. In 1721, a decree was issued to ensure serfs were sold as family units, thus preventing the break up of families. Another decree of 1719 stated that a cruel noble might be deprived of his estates (but this was rarely checked). However, despite this, the peasants played a huge price for the changes made by Peter during his reign. Peter had made all peasants into serfs and divided them into two main groups - state serfs and bonded serfs. State serfs were drafted into construction projects such as the building of St. Petersburg, which extracted a heavy toll in lives (a fresh supply of 40,000 a year were used). Furthermore, all serfs were liable to military conscription for periods of 25 years. The fivefold increase in taxation was certainly borne by the long-suffering Russian population. They were adversely affected by the soul tax in 1718, which imposed heavy financial burden and increased their dependence on the nobility who supervised their payments. However, it was the introduction of the passport system in 1724 (designed to control movement between estates and prevent evasion from conscription) which most depressed the status of the peasantry. It can therefore be stated that Peter subordinated the lives and liberties of his subjects to his own conception of the welfare of the state. Like many of his successors, he concluded that ruthless reform was necessary to overcome Russia's backwardness.

Peter believed that the traditional system, dominated by the church, was incapable of delivering the sorts of changes that he considered Russia needed as the basis for his proposed transformation. Peter again looked to the technical and scientific knowledge of the West, sending groups abroad at various stages during his reign. In 1701, he established the School of Mathematics and Navigation, and later that year founded the Artillery Academy. The Gluck Gymnasium specialising in politics and western languages followed in 1705, followed by the Engineering Academy 1712, Naval Academy 1715, School of Mines 1716, and Academy of Sciences 1724. Peter also established elementary or 'cipher' schools to teach literacy and numeracy, of which there were 40 by 1722. Garrison schools were established and a decree issued in 1714 that the gubernii should each set up two mathematical schools. Most of these institutions used basic textbooks introduced during Peter's reign. A public library was founded in 1719 and Peter laid plans for the foundation of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences.

It can therefore be said that Peter's changes were prompted only by military necessity. War was a catalyst for change, largely because Peter had no deep attachment to Muscovite traditions and was prepared to use any methods to update them. It was also this 'iconoclastic attitude' which enabled him to respond positively to defeat at Narva in 1700 and convert the prospect of "immediate collapse into longer-term revival". Furthermore, Peter's Russia can be described as a 'state at war' as the conflict with Sweden (and to some extent Turkey) profoundly affected the domestic scene and was the key influence behind Peter's various economic reforms. Lentin argues, "The changes wrought by Peter between 1700 and 1709 stemmed...from the immediate exigencies of war". Since Peter's priority was the effective mobilisation of Russian resources to defeat Sweden, institutions had to be "examined, overhauled, or even replaced". The struggle with "Most of the other transformations that Peter brought about in Russian life stemmed from the necessity of recruiting the men for these forces and raising the revenue for financing the wars they fought". (E.N.Williams). Seventy-five percent of revenue was spent on army and navy in 1701, increasing to eighty percent in 1710. As the reign progressed, the measures taken to increase the revenue and supply the army exerted an impact on the other sect

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