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How Russia Tried To Use The Outlawing Of Beards To Pay For Its Modernization
Peter the Great didn’t want his subjects to sport facial hair, and if they did he wanted them to pay for it
Peter the Great of Russia was instrumental in bringing modernity to his country during his 43-year reign as Czar. Elevating the vast country from backwards ways required a great deal of ingenuity and money, the latter being in precious short supply. One way the famous leader helped finance this massive shift was by regulating and taxing all men who chose to wear beards.
A large presence both literally and figuratively, Peter stood 6'8" and was renowned for his fondness of alcohol. He had an impressively long reign (1682–1725) that under his direction saw the country expand greatly and embrace modernity, science and a general lean towards Western culture. He worked on arranging advantageous marriages for family members into royal families of European nations; opened a new capital (St. Petersburg); and aggressively pushed the growth of industrialization. Through these assortment of actions and reforms, Russia made huge strides during his tenure from being more isolated and backwards to an emerging world power.
In the late 1690s, Peter completed an extensive tour of Europe, traveling under…
