The reforms of Peter the Great changed Russia so drastically. It is easier to say what remained unchanged, especially in the field of public administration. Certainly, the system of population censuses changed a lot, because the Tsar needed accurate information about the settlement of inhabitants in the country and the number of estates (the strata into which Russian society was divided). These figures were used to make a new army, build industry and change fiscal policies.

«The first census of Peter the Great took place in 1710»

Peter's first census was taken in 1710. It was a habitation-based census, primarily counting numbers of "homesteads", so taxes could be imposed on each of them. The results cast doubt on the correctness of such an approach: it was found that the number of homesteads in Russia had shrunk by 19.5% since 1678. People formally united their homesteads in order to evade taxation.

In 1719, Peter the Great conducted a head count census. The aim was to count all men of the taxable estates. Taxes and the number of recruits to be sent to the army were calculated on the basis of the count.

«Decree about the head count census»

The logic of the new system was simple. During the census "tales" were compiled with a named list of "souls", i.e. men of all ages. Communities had to pay a tax for each "soul". The number of "souls" could only be altered by a new census, and the tax amount remained fixed in the interim.

After the revision of the census Peter published a decree that the yearly tax rate per soul was to be 74 kopecks. At that time one rouble (100 kopecks) sufficed to feed a soldier for 25 days.