386 A BRIEF SURVEY OF HUMAN HISTORY

lowed the traditional policy of his family and earned for
himself the title of Frederick the Great—the maker of Modern
Germany. With all his faults Frederick had a high con-
ception of the office of monarchs. "The monarch/* he
declared, "is only the first servant of the State, who is
obliged to act with probity and prudence, and to remain
as totally disinterested as if he were each moment liable
to render an account of his administration to his fellow-
citizens. .. The prince is to the nation he governs what
the head is to the man; it is his duty to see, think, and
act for the whole community, that he may procure it every
advantage of which it is capable." He was unsparing in
the pursuit of this) ideal, though he never cared what means
he had to adopt to secure the end.

In our survey of'Grand Monarchy we referred to Peter
the Great of Russia (1682-1725). Though Russia was
always under monarchical despotism until its overthrow in
1918, we must content ourselves here with only a few typical
examples. The Romanoffs came to the throne of Russia
in 1613. Even before that the Grand Dukes of Moscow,
like Ivan the} Terrible, had already consolidated the absolu-
tism of the ruling family at the expense of the boyars
(barons). But the country had grown without coming to
maturity as it were. Russia was very backward in all res-
pects. She was more Asiatic than European. So when Peter
became the Czar in 1696 he decided that his country ought
to turn to the West rather than to the East for inspiration.
He personally travelled widely in Germany, Holland, Eng-
land, and greatly admired their progress. Keenly desirous
of reforming his own subjects along their lines, he import-
ed into Russia engineers, workmen, and teachers in all de-
partments, from tfie countries he had visited. In his zeal
for reform Peter toiled like a common workman in field