<span>Peter was concerned that Russia was falling behind other European countries in terms of economics, the sciences, art & literature as well as trade and manufacturing (this has been a constant theme throughout Russian history). Peter wanted to create a new city, built in the Western, European style to reflect Russia's new, Western looking thinking. It, St Petersburg, was designed to be an architectural marvel, a glittering city on the Baltic to rival Paris or Venice or Vienna. The problem with the previous capital, Moscow, was that it was, in Peter's mind, a provincial, Eastern looking city, full of eastern minded people - the Boyars - and dominated by the Orthodox Church. He stipulated what clothes people could wear - and how they could cut their hair & beards, again adopting Western, rather than Easyern styles. St Petersburg was build to attract architects, artists, writers, as well as to create the perfect place for manufacturing new products - it had a port with easy access to Helsinki, the Hansa ports of Germany, Stockholm, Copenhagen as well as the Dutch cities and, the heart of World trade - London. The city was also sited to act as a deterrent to Swedish designs on the Southern Baltic coast - Russian territory.
The Boyars were noble families, traditionally associated with Moscow, who had a great deal of autonomy and influence over state affairs. Many Tsars had had difficulties controlling them. </span>
The process described in the statement is known as urbanization. Urbanization discusses how individuals moved from the countryside to the cities for economic opportunities. These economic opportunities were made possible by the inventions developed during the Industrial Revolution. Inventions like interchangeable parts allowed for companies to mass produce goods for the American public.
