Download - Kiev – established by Vikings Strong Byzantine influences Conquered by Mongols in late 1230’s
• Kiev – established by Vikings
• Strong Byzantine influences
• Conquered by Mongols in late 1230’s
• Princes of Muscovy worked with Mongols to gain power
• Ivan III (the Great) stopped tribute to Mongols in 1480
• Ivan III established strong centralized government
• Married niece of last Byzantine emperor – took title of Czar (Tsar)
• Adopted Byzantine double-headed eagle as state emblem
• Adopted pomp and ceremony of Byzantine court – called Russia “Third Rome”
• Ivan III absorbed independent Novgorod (tied to Poland-Lithuania) into new state
• To settle new territories, Ivan III used free peasant pioneers (Cossacks)
• Cossacks played large role in the expansion of Russia
• Focus of expansion was to the east - Furs
• Russia- Early Contact with the WestWestern merchants established trade
contactsItalian artists & architects imported for
royal and church buildingsRussia looked to the West as example
for court lifeRussia selectively copied Western
culture / commerce
• Competition with nobility (Boyars) for power
• Czar took on role as head of church
• Struggle with Boyars reached climax under rule of Ivan IV
Ivan IV
• Ivan IV (Ivan the Terrible)Began rule at age 16Married into Romanov Boyar clanSuspected Boyars of killing his wifeThreatened to abdicate unless given
power to deal with Boyars and gain land called Oprichnina (“land apart”)
• Ivan IV broke up estates of Boyars• Created new aristocratic class called
Oprichniki• Used Oprichniki to terrorize
population• Depredations made Russia weak –
open to outside invasions• Ivan turned on Oprichniki
• Ivan IV died (1584) leaving no heir
• Civil War ensued along with outside invasions
• Mikhail Romanov elected Czar in 1613
• Romanovs would rule to 1917
• Peter the Great Peter developed
fascination for Western technology
Took throne in 1689 Established a policy of
rapid and forced modernization and Westernization
Copied many aspects of Western military
Peter the Great
Established the “Table of Ranks,” permitting nobles to move ahead based on merit
Abolished the Terem, the Russian equivalent of the harem
Encouraged the mixing of the sexes in towns and cities
1703 - built new capital on the Baltic Sea, St. Petersburg
• Russia and the WestPeter adopted only that which did not
interfere with the autocratic stateWesternization caused hostility on part
of the populaceRussia would continue love-hate
relationship with the West
• Catherine the Great Married Peter III Peter murdered –
Catherine succeeded to throne as Catherine II (1762 – 1796)
Ruled with support of nobility and military
Selective Westernization – interested in the Enlightenment
Catherine II (the Great)
Continued expansion of Russia into the Crimea and Siberia
Partitioned Poland – Poland not free again until 1918
Absorbed large Jewish populationEnacted harsh policies on treatment
of serfs
• Expansion east brought contact with Ottomans and Safavids
• Took control of Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia
• Cossacks conducted campaign against ethnic peoples of Siberia (American west?)
Russia COT 1450-1750
• In Russia 1450-1750, the centralization against the Mongols led to the development of the absolutist monarchy of the tsars and the “Westernization” campaign of gaining territory including the essential warm water ports. Feudalism, however, would be increasingly cemented by Russian forces to gain furthered agricultural productivity.
• LaborSerfs could be bought and soldA law code in 1649 imposed rigid caste-like
structure over Russia’s labor force It restricted both their occupational and their
geographical mobilityArtisans and merchants had to register their
children into their father’s occupation It also established a hierarchy of nobles,
making 52 Boyar families the top class
Industrialization began under Peter the Great
Factory owners could buy serfs, prostitutes, beggars, criminals, and orphans
Despite the emphasis put on industry, Russia’s factories never rivaled those of Europe
Russia COT 1450-1750
Changes Continuities
St. Petersburg (Window to the West) warm water portTsars centralized Absolute authorityWomen interacting with men in cities, removal of Tarem, Catherine enlightened despotWesternization campaign- removal beards, development of gunpowder weaponry, table of ranks, first navyCampaign of “eastward” imperialism by Cossaks led to destruction of indigenous populations
Moscow still politically, economically and culturally importantRole of Orthodox churchStill patriarchalHarsh punishment of serfsJews in pogromsfeudalism persitsedStill predominantly agriculturalFurs still important revenue