spitals as well as promoting homes for the destitute. There was also some development with literature and the arts. This is shown by the replacement of the old religious alphabet with the modern 'civil' script and Arabic numerals, and the introduction of the Western Calendar. Furthermore, in his economic reforms, Peter was influenced by western mercantilist policies, for example the 1725 tariff to raise import duties.
             Economic precedents were set by Peter, influenced by Western techniques and theories. He sought to transform the Russian economy by a new policy of hybridisation. His major achievement was in transferring the centre of commercial gravity from Archangel and the White Sea to St. Petersburg and the more accessible Baltic. In 1710, 153 foreign ships were using Archangel, however by 1724, 240 foreign ships used St. Petersburg as the port of entry to Russia. Furthermore, Peter planned to improve industry. Companies were given state loans to kick-start industry, for example in 1696, the first ironworks was established in Russia and by 1725, there were 86 ironworks established. At first Peter gave priority to armaments needed in the war with Sweden but, in the second half of the reign, also sought to enlarge and diversify the industrial base by promoting consumer goods such as silk and china. Peter also tried (but failed) to join the Baltic and Black Seas by canal. However, it can be said that the economic changes were piecemeal and unsystematic, without, according to Florinsky, "plan or proper co-ordination, the various measures, indeed, frequently working at cross-purposes".
             Peter believed that the traditional system, dominated by the church, was incapable of delivering the sorts of changes that he considered Russia needed as the basis for his proposed transformation. Peter again looked to the technical and scientific knowledge of the West, sending groups abroad at various stages during his reign. In 1701, he established t...