Peter the Great’s Westernization began with surface appearance and moved to military modernization

Evidence

At the end of the seventeenth century Russia was not only different from Europe, it was also backward compared to Europe, as Peter the Great learned during his European tour in 1697-1698. He became determined both to modernize and to Westernize his country. To make his people look European, the first thing Peter did on returning to Moscow was to shave the beards of his nobles and ban their long gowns and conical hats. Although Peter did not abolish the Cyrillic alphabet he did reform and simplify it and introduce Western words and phrases. He gave top priority, however, to the development and modernization of Russia’s military forces: creating a navy, introducing conscription, building defense industries, establishing technical schools, sending people to the West to study, and importing from the West the latest knowledge concerning weapons, ships and shipbuilding, navigation, bureaucratic administration, and other subjects essential to military effectiveness. — Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the…, 382

Categorization

• XREF: The sequencing of cultural surface-change before military/economic depth parallels the trajectory of later modernization efforts (e.g., Japan’s Meiji and Atatürk’s reforms).
• SHARE: The beard-shaving detail as the literal first act of Peter’s Westernization is a vivid anecdote for someone interested in Russia or modernization history.