Well there were several reforms made by Peter the Great upon his ascension to the throne, so I'm going to divide them into some subcategories and go from there.

Military Reforms

• He created the Russian Imperial Navy. Prior to Peters reign there had been no naval force as the Tsardom of Russia had no direct access to the sea (they did however, have several very nice rivers, so credit where credit is due). Peter I was instrumental in the creation of the Imperial Navy, and his campaigns against Sweden in the Great Norther War ( 1700-1721) were were motivated by his desire to achieve a "window to the west" on the Baltic Sea, whereby Russia could trade and have access to the new ideas and technologies of Western Europe. In addition he established the Baltic Fleet, and in 1720 he penned the Naval Charter which was meant to establish the practices and behavior required of Naval Officers. Within a few years of Peters establishment of the Navy, the Baltic Fleet contained 52 battleships and hundreds of galleys.

• He completely abolished the institution of the Streltsy, which had been the Tsars personal guards since Ivan the Terrible had created them in the mid 1500s. The reason for this is they had revolted in 1698, while Peter was away on his Grand Embassy, though its was quickly quelled by Peters deputies in Moscow, he took it as an excuse to do away with them entirely, executing over 1000 guardsmen. It was discovered that his sister sofia, the former Queen Regent had encouraged them to revolt, so he had her shut up in the Novodevichy convent with a few dead streltsy hanging outside her window for good measure.

In the place of the Streltsy he established the first two regiments of the Imperial Guard, the Preobrazhensky and Semyonovsky Regiments, which were to form the nucleus of Russia's new European Style Army.

• Peter reorganized the army along modern Western european lines, creating a standing army to replace the unreliable streltsy and militias raised by the Russian Boyars. Officers were to be drawn from the nobility, and common soldiers were conscripted from the serfs and peasantry, and service in the Russian Imperial Army was for life. Uniforms were provided, and the soldiers were armed with flintlock muskets and bayonets, which were produced at the newly established weapons manufactory at Tula. In addition, Peter completely overhauled the artillery wing of the army, replacing obsolete cannons with ones of newer designs. He adopted the canton system of conscription for the army, each canton would provide a regiment for the army. The Army Regulations of 1716 were enacted, requiring officers to regularly drill their men and instill a soldierly attitude in their men.

Political Reforms

• He moved the capital from Moscow to St. Petersburg in 1703, of which the first structure was the Fortress of Saints Peter and Paul, which was built to guard the mouth of the River Neva on the Gulf of Finland.

• He introduced the Collegial System in 1718 to manage the internal affairs of state. Now this system Peter borrowed from the Swedish, and it created nine Colleges, each of which were tasked with managing a specific department of state. Each college was managed by a board which was headed by Procurator. The original nine colleges were as follows:

Collegium of Commerce Collegium of Financial Inspection and Control Collegium of Foreign Affairs Collegium of Justice Collegium of Manufacturing Collegium of the Navy Collegium of State Expenses Collegium of State Income Collegium of War

And in 1722 three more were added: Collegium of Estates Collegium of Mining Collegium of Town Organization

• He Established an Imperial Senate which, consisted of ten senators appointed by the Tsar, and headed by a Procurator-General. Now the role of this senate was purely advisory, it had no legislative power, as Russia was an autocratic state. Instead they were meant to create laws in accordance with the Tsars edicts. They also acted as the Supreme Court of the Empire.

• In 1708 the Russian Empire was divided into Gubernii or districts, headed by a Governor0General appointed by the Tsar, and invested with administrative, military, and judicial authority. In 1722, the gubernii were subdivided into 50 provinces, which were in turn divided into different districts.

• He changed the law of succession in 1718, which stated that the Tsar could name his or her own successor. Now this was arguably one of Peters worst ideas, as the period between Peters death and the adoption of Salic law by Tsar Paul I was one fraught with dynastic tensions, with different potential candidates for the throne all vying for the special seat. Catherine I, Peter's Successor and second wife was born a Lithuanian peasant whom Peter took a liking to.

Social Reforms

• Elementary education was required for all male nobility. Under Peter the Great the Russian nobility was to become an instrument of the state, to provide civil servants, officers for the military, and government officials. State service was not only expected but mandatory.

• He established the Table of Ranks, which were a set of 14 ranks that applied to both military and civil service, with 14 being the lowest rank and 1 being the highest. If someone rose to at least the 8th rank, they were instantly ennobled. By creating this means for ennoblement of non-noble civil servants, Peter could significantly weaken the position of the Russian Boyars.

• He instituted the first Russian Order of Knighthood, the Order of St Andrew, which all royal males were automatically admitted.

• He Abolished the office of Patriarchate in the Russian Orthodox Church in 1700. By choosing not appoint a new Patriarch, the political head of the Russian empire was merged with the Religious head, both being the Tsar. In the place of the Patriarchate Peter created the Holy Synod, headed by a layman, the Procurator of the Holy Synod. The procurator was merely the head of administration of the Russian Church. The Tsar was still the Religious leader of the Russian Orthodox faith.

• He compelled all members of the court to adopt western dress and customs, forcing male nobles to shave their beards, or else they had to pay a beard tax.

Phew! That was a lot. Now in regards to the views on the impact of Peters Reforms, they generally diverged into two camps. The first view is that Peters reforms were necessary, that he brought Russia kicking and screaming into the 18th century through these reforms, that the only way to do so was through absolute autocratic power. The other view is that by forcing these changes and not allowing Russia's social development to progress at a natural pace, Peter stunted Russia's development, that his adoption of full autocratic power somehow smothered the possibility of constitutionalism for Russia in it's crib, and that by establishing a command economy, capitalism did not develop at the same time that it did in western European nations.

Alright thats about it, if you have further questions I'll do my best to try and answer them!

Sources:

A Concise History of Russia by Paul Bushkovitch

Russia: People And Empire by Geoffrey Hosking

Peter the Great: His Life and World by Robert K Massie

Russia: A Concise History Robert Hingley