RUSSIA AND THE WESTERN REPUBLICS CHAPTER 16 SECTION 1 RUSSIA AND THE WESTERN REPUBLICS

HISTORY OF EXPANSION VIKINGS SETTLED BETWEEN THE BALTIC AND BLACK SEAS IN THE NINTH CENTURY MONGOLS FROM THE EAST INVADED 400 YEARS LATER AND CONTROLLED THE REGION UNTIL THE 1500S

IVAN THE GREAT UNIFIED THE REGION IN THE 1500S.

St. Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow was completed in 1555, under the rule of Czar Ivan the Terrible.

Legend has it that Ivan had the architect of this beautiful building blinded so that he could never build or design anything as beautiful again, for anyone else.

St. Basil’s is a Russian Orthodox Church and is decorated with paintings and gilding on all its interior walls.

THE KREMLIN

The Kremlin (“fortress” in Russian) surrounds government buildings and what were once the Czar’s personal churches.

KREMLIN CATHEDRALS

CATHEDRAL OF THE ASSUMPTION

CATHEDRAL OF THE ANNUNCIATION

ST. PETERSBURG

PETER THE GREAT DESIGNED THE CITY, WHICH WAS BUILT FROM A MOSQUITO-INFESTED SWAMP.

IT BECAME A COMPLEX OF ISLANDS AND CANALS WITH HUNDREDS OF BRIDGES.

EVERY BRIDGE IS UNIQUE

THE FIRST STRUCTURE HE BUILT WAS THE FORTRESS OF SAINTS PETER AND PAUL OVERLOOKING THE NEVA RIVER.

INSIDE THE FORT WAS PETER THE GREAT’S PERSONAL CATHEDRAL

ICON IN THE CATHEDRAL

PETER BUILT THE ADMIRALTY FOR THE COMMANDERS OF THE RUSSIAN NAVY

This is a statue of Peter The Great. The body was cast in bronze before he died The head was cast from his death mask and added later. The only problem is that the head of the statue is ended up to be too small for the bronze body!

NEXT TO THE RIVER NEVA IS THE WINTER PALACE OF THE CZARS

TODAY, THE WINTER PALACE IS HOME TO THE HERMITAGE, ONE OF THE LARGEST ART MUSEUMS IN THE WORLD

THE CATHERINE THE GREAT CHANDELIER IN THE HERMITAGE MUSEUM

PETER DESIGNED HIS CITY TO IMITATE PARIS

NEXT TO THE WINTER PALACE

ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CHURCHES IN ST. PETERSBURG IS THE CHURCH ON SPILLED BLOOD, NAMED FOR THE SITE WHERE THE CZAR’S SON WAS ASSASSINATED.

IT IS COMPLETELY COVERED IN MOSAIC TILE ON THE EXTERIOR.

1917 AND THE REVOLUTION

OUTSIDE THE WINTER PALACE, THE HOME OF THE ROMANOV FAMILY FOR A FEW MONTHS OF THE YEAR, A PROTEST IN 1917 GREW INTO THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION.

REVOLUTIONARY SQUARE

ARCH IN REVOLUTIONARY SQUARE

Communism Led by the writings of Karl Marx, a German philosopher, Vladimir Lenin instituted a command economy, originally thought to improve the lives of workers Instead, communism led to scarcity, inefficiency, and lack of consumer goods

Collective Farms Large state farms, called collectives, were formed, and workers were moved by force by the government to work on them. The farms were inefficient and did not reward hard work. Many people starved because of the failure of the farms to feed the Soviet people.

OUTSIDE THE KREMLIN IS RED SQUARE, LOCATION OF LENIN’S TOMB

LENIN’S TOMB

A CUSTOM AMONG RUSSIAN COUPLES IS TO VISIT MONUMENTS IN RED SQUARE BEFORE THEIR MARRIAGE CEREMONY.

THEY TAKE PICTURES, AND THE BRIDE LAYS HER BOUQUET AT A CHOSEN MONUMENT, USUALLY TO HONOR FALLEN SOLDIERS.

OUTSIDE RED SQUARE IS THE WAR MEMORIAL TO RUSSIANS WHO DIED IN WORLD WAR II. THE GUARDS CHANGE EVERY FEW HOURS.

THE CHANGING OF THE GUARD AT THE TOMB OF THE MONUMENT OF THE RUSSIAN SOLDIERS

Stalin came to power after Lenin’s death. Josef Stalin Stalin came to power after Lenin’s death. His strict rule sent political enemies to the “gulag,” or series of concentration camps in Siberia. He is believed to have sent 14 million people to their deaths in the 1930s and 1940’s.

TRANISTION TO MARKET ECONOMY BORIS YELTSIN and MIKHAIL GORBACHEV are credited with opening the Soviet economy up and relaxing restrictions on the press.

NEXT TO RED SQUARE IS THE FORMER GOVERNMENT STORE, KNOW AS G.U.M. IT IS NOW A DESIGNER MALL WITH FOUNTAINS AND GLASS CANOPY CEILING.

RUSSIAN POLITICS TODAY RUSSIA’S FORMER PRESIDENT AND CURRENT PREMIER, VLADIMIR PUTIN PLACED MORE RESTRICTIONS ON THE PRESS. HE IS HIGHLY POPULAR WITH RUSSIANS, BUT HIS SUPPORTERS HAVE SUPRESSED OPPPOSING POLITICAL VIEWS. HIS POLITICAL PROTEGE, DMITRI MEDVEDEV, IS RUSSIA’S CURRENT PRESIDENT

Rich Culture Russia has great ethnic diversity, with over 70 different ethnic groups. See the map on page 341 Most Russians are Russian Orthodox Christian. Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism are practiced here, but persecution has led many Jews to emigrate. Even harsh rulers cannot destroy the strong spiritual traditions in Russia.

ARTS AND LITERATURE The Bolshoi (Moscow) and the Kirov Ballet are recognized the best in the world, producing dancers like Mikhail Baryshnikov. FYODOR DOSTOYEVSKY, novelist who wrote psychological works like Crime and Punishment Aleksandr Pushkin, Russia’s most important poet Artists often struggled against the government to express their talent. Some have been imprisoned or executed for their artistic creations.

Barishnikov in 1979 Mikhail Barishnikov today at age 60

Traditions THE DACHA, OR COUNTRY HOUSE ONE OF THE TRADITIONS IS TO VISIT A BANYA, OR BATH HOUSE. AFTER A MASSAGE AND STEAM BATH, RUSSIANS JUMP INTO ICY WATER. THEN THEY REPEAT THE PROCESS AGAIN.