Peter wants westernization

After the trip he wanted westernization but knew some will be against. *Peter abolished the office of patriarch, head of the Church and set up a group called the Holy Synod to run the Church under his direction. *Peter reduced the power of the great landowners. He recruited men from lower-ranking families. He then promoted them to positions of authority and rewarded them with grants of land. *To modernize his army, Peter hired European officers, who drilled his soldiers in European tactics with European weapons. Being a soldier became a lifetime job. To pay for this huge army, Peter imposed heavy taxes.