1. ABSOLUTE MONARCHY IN RUSSIA Chapter 16 Section 5

2. Russia in the 1600s 1600’s Russia is a medieval state  Isolated from the West

3. Peter the Great Absolute monarch Uses power to make Russia a great modern power

4. Peter the Great Visited European cities to learn policy of westernization  Proved difficult to change Russian tradition 3 Goals 1. Strengthen military 2. Expand Russian borders 3. Centralize royal power -Made boyars serve the state -Strengthens serfdom for nobles

5. Peter the Great Uses autocratic methods to achieve goals  Ruling with unlimited authority  No mercy for anyone who resisted

6. Expanding Borders Built the largest standing army in Europe Fought Ottomans to obtain warm-water ports in Black Sea UUnsuccessful Great Northern War RRussia vs. Sweden RRussia suffers humiliating defeats but eventually wins and gains territory in the Baltic Sea

7. Built new capital St. Petersburg  City on coast > serfs drain swampland  Symbol of power Traded with China, and explored Bering Strait -Made Russia largest country in the world

8. Catherine the Great Peter dies without heir Power struggle within Romanov family After a series of ineffective rulers Catherine arises  German princess Husband murdered she takes power

9. Catherine the Great Embraced western ideas Ruthless ruler > more peasants forced into serfdom Russia, Prussia, and Austria partition Poland EEach get territory > Poland disappears from map of the world