Why is Rousseau saying that "[...] Russia was civilized too soon"?

Question

In [*The Social Contract*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Social_Contract), Jean-Jacques Rousseau says > [...] Russia will never be really civilized, because it was civilized too soon What is he referring to, when saying it was civilized too soon, and why that would prevent Russia from being civilized later?

Answer 1

Rousseau says that Peter the Great, who ruled Russia, introduced his radical reforms too soon.

The French writer thought that the Russians had developed a number of defects and vices that Peter the Great should have got rid of before introducing reforms based on the ideas of France and Germany. The people over whom Peter the Great reigned were not ready for these reforms and in that sense they were "civilized too soon".