The “Louis XIV” of Russia

Ivan III (r. 1462-1505)

First to conquer and annex many principalities Novgorod extending to the Baltic Sea Also shared this land with newly emerging service

nobility Boyars!

Prince of Moscow would be absolute ruler Autocrat, tsar (Slavic translation for Caesar)

First to stop acknowledging Khan as supreme ruler

After fall of Constantinople to Turks (1453) Tsars saw themselves as heirs to both caesars and

Orthodox Christianity, the one true faith

Ivan IV (r. 1533-1584)Famous Ivan the TerribleCame to throne at age 3Suffered insults/neglect at hands of haughty

boyars after mom’s mysterious deathAt 16 pushed aside hated boyar advisors

Weird ceremonyGold coins pouring down on his head; crowned

himself taking title of tsar for the first time

Ivan IVMarried beautiful and kind Anastasia of

Romanov familyQuashed all remnants of Mongol power

adding vast new territoriesKnocked out boyar power

All nobles, old and new had to serve the tsar in order to hold land

Entire nobility transformed into service nobility

Ivan IVWaged war with Poland/Lithuania (1557)Boyars blamed for poisoning of his wifeDevelops his own secret police force, the

OprichniksBecome his main instrument of terrorDressed in black, riding horses, forerunners of

modern dictator’s secret policeGreat boyar families severely reduced

Time of troublesTotal chaos

Relatives of Ivan intrigued against and murdered each other

Welcomed invading Swedes and Poles who even occupied Moscow

Cossack bands dominated countryside slaughtering nobles and officials.

Nobles had had enoughElected Ivan’s 16 yr. old grandnephew,

Michael Romanov

Ivan the Terrible

In Between GuysMichael Romanov (r. 1613-1654)Alexsei (r. 1654-1676)Theodore II (r.1676-1682)

Stephen Razin led Cossack revolt

Michael Romanov

Alexsai

As a YoungsterHad contact with Westerners at:

ArchangelMoscow (filled with lots of Germans)Holland and EnglandAll this experience made him see how

backward Russia was; convinced him to change this

Sophia Older sister ruled as regent for her two

brothers, Ivan V and Peter Both boys considered joint sovereignsAt 17 Peter staged a coup disposing of the

Regency and Ivan V. (exiled)

Peter’s ReignHis goal:

To create an army and state which could stand against the West

To ward off Poles, Swedes, TurksTo expand by obtaining seaports or "windows

on the west"To do this:

1,000 experts recruited from Western EuropeSwedes were Russia's main enemyHe destroyed the Swedish army at the Battle

of Poltava gaining Livonia and eastern Finland

Reforms to force a new culture on Russia

He had contempt for the "old" Russian waysRebuilt his army from the ground upRanks filled with soldiers supplied by

districtsRegiments of standardized compositionCreated government officesEncouraged exports

Reforms to force a new culture on Russia

Built fleet on the BalticDeveloped mining, metallurgy, textiles (for

army)Mixed group of Russians and foreigners into

commercial companies assigning them serfs.Serfdom spread from agriculture to industrial

institutions 1678: peasants could be sold without the land

(American slavery)

Reforms to force a new culture on Russia

Impressments of both management and labor, not on private profit and wages

Created administration system to oversee all this

Forbade beards, first book of etiquette"State service"

State service: virtually all landowning and serf owning aristocrats were required to serve in the army or in civil administration

Social Revolution: status depended on rank in his state service, not inherited

To pay for all this

Taxes on every conceivable item: hats, etc. to get married, etc.

Mercantilist policies of ColbertAll industries were administered by the

government

IMPORTANT!Peter abolished hereditary rule Tsar was to name his successor (lacking legal

regularity) (state without a people)He was disappointed in this son, had him

killed

PATRIARCHPatriarch: Head of the Russian Church

(similar to Pope in Rome)Used to be the Patriarch of Constantinople,

but they created a Patriarch of RussiaAfter 1700 no new Patriarchs appointedChurch was put under a committee of

Bishops called the Holy Synod headed by a Procurator, official of the government

To ensure that the church did not displease the tsar

CONCLUSIONPeter the Great fastened autocracy,

serfdom and bureaucracy more firmly upon the country

Really affected the upper classes in Russia; they became so Europeanized (living spiritually in Paris, etc.) that they sensed themselves as strangers in their own land.