The Mongol Yoke and the Rise of Moscow  Mongols – nomadic tribe from present day Mongolia  Used terror to reduce conquered peoples into submission  Ruled eastern Slavs (Russians) for 200 years – Mongol Yoke  The princes of Moscow served the Mongol invaders as officials  Ivan III (r ) declared independence from Mongols in 1480

 Moscow Princes = Autocrats – sole source of power (like khans)  Claimed political and religious inheritance of Byzantine Empire  Tsar contraction of Caesar  Orthodox Christianity  Religion source of nationalism and loyalty to the crown  Tsar’s ruled through collaboration with nobility (boyars)  Also created new nobility personally loyal to tsar – service nobility

Tsar and People to 1689Tsar and People to 1689  Ivan IV “the Terrible” (r )  Fought wars against Mongols in east and Poland-Lithuanian in west  Launched a reign of terror against boyar nobility

 Increased pressure on the peasants to pay for his wars led to a breakdown of the Muscovite state after his death – Time of Troubles ( )  1613 – Nobles elected Michael Romanov (grandnephew of Ivan the T)  Represented restoration of tsarist autocracy  Success of Romanovs in 17 th century  Added Ukraine & Siberia to Russian territory  Growth of bureaucracy and army  Lots of natural resources from Siberia

The Reforms of Peter the Great (r )  Sought to reform Russia to increase its military strength  Of 36 year reign, only one year was peaceful  Toured Western Europe  Impressed with Dutch and English  How could Russia profit from their example?

 Engaged Russia in the Great Northern War ( ) with Sweden  Military reforms  Required nobles to serve in army or civil admin for life  Created Western-style schools to train technicians for army  Borrowed Western technology and hired Western advisers  Created permanent standing army  Increased taxes on peasantry threefold  Promoted Western culture in Russia

The Growth of St. PetersburgThe Growth of St. Petersburg  Greatest of Peter’s reforms – creation of St. Petersburg  Strategic military location near Baltic Sea

 Ordered Russians to build a Western and modern city  Broad, straight, stone-paved avenues  Conformity of architecture  Social groups sectioned off into different areas  Example of careful urban planning  Drafted thousands of peasants to build city  Desertion, death  St. Petersburg proclaimed power of Russia’s rulers and the creative potential of absolutist state