1. Rise of Russia

2. Overall Characteristics/Themes Visible Throughout Russia History
Invasions and fear of invasion
Openness to West – or not
Alternating periods of repression and reform
Little or no history of democracy

3. Mongol Invasion Invasion began political history
Mongol Invasion: forces of Gengis Khan move from North China across the continent to take Moscow
Tatars: a Turkish people who were also invading Russia – became agents/administrators for Mongols

4. Mongol/Tatar Rule 1240-1480 Brutal invasion
Russia “hibernated” and missed the high middle ages of Europe
1480 Ivan III (Ivan the Great) formally renounced Mongol rule over Russia
Tatars were Turks who also were invading Russia, and then acted as an administrator for the Mongols

5. MONGOL EMPIRE

6. 16TH AND 17TH RUSSIA Power tended to rest with boyars
Held land
Controlled serfs
Boyars struggles with new tsars for control
New tsars used boyars to serve state
Created bureaucracy
Mandatory military service

7. Ivan III Established hereditary rule
Adopted Byzantine traditions - Third Rome
Tsar head of Orthodox Church
Cossacks (Turkish word = “free men”)
Ivan wanted Byzantine legacy for himself
Called himself Tsar/Czar from Caesar
Rebuilt the Kremlin with Italian architects
Czar in charge of church - selected by God

8. Ivan IV (the Terrible) 1530-1584
First Russian monarch to use title of tsar (also spelled czar)
Assumed throne at age three
Yelena died in 1538
Possible poisoning by boyars

9. Ivan to Power Boyar families fought for de facto control of government
Encouraged him to be cruel to animals and people
10 years of boyar rule left Ivan scarred
Unbalanced, undisciplined, cruel and slightly crazy
1543—executed a boyar
1547—married Anastasia Romanov

10. Ivan’s Illness and Loss of Son
Fell ill and demanded princes and boyars swear allegiance to his small son, Dimitri
Many refuse
Visited monastery to give thanks for recovery
Nurse dropped baby Dimitri into river and he drowned

11. Death of Anastasia Ivan had emotional breakdown
Banged head on floor
Destroyed furniture
Ivan believed (but had no proof) boyars poisoned his wife
Tortured and executed many
Cruelty and insanity broke through

12. The End of Ivan 1581—killed 2nd son, Ivan Son, Feodor, gained throne
Feodor died with no heir
Riurik dynasty ended, Russia in disarray
Civil War, Polish invasion ensue

13. The Two Ivans Increase in control over peoples’ lives
Permanent military established
New currency
Sudebnik-Introduced by Ivan III
Code of laws
Limited aristocracy
Made it more difficult for peasants to leave their land

14. The Two Ivans Church Reform in 1551 Oprichniki
Government supervision of clergy
Correction of rituals
Oprichniki
Special police force assembled to destroy the boyar land-elite
Wear all black and ride black horses
No remorse for torturing, killing, or dismembering

16. New Line of Tsars—Romanov
1613—Michael Romanov selected tsar
He and successors moved Russia toward more autocracy
Total inserfment of peasants by 1649
Military service demands for boyars were relaxed
Changes met with civil unrest, especially from cossacks

17. Peter the Great
Became tsar at 10, but did not really exercise power until 1689
Grew up going to “German Quarter” and learned of new, Western technology
7 feet tall
Traveled widely
Westernized
Modernized army
Table of Ranks – position in government based upon merit
Eliminated the “Terem” - the isolation of women
Encouraged men and women to interact
Taxed men who did not cut their beards
Set up elementary schools in cities, 10 years later open universities

18. Peter the Great
Biggest problem was Russia had no warm water ports
Battled with Ottoman Turks to try to control Black Sea
Defeated Sweden for good cold water ports along Baltic Sea
Built capital, St. Petersburg, on the Baltic Sea, “gateway to the West.”
Forced laborers to drain a swamp along Neva River
Eliminated the “Terem” - the isolation of women
Encouraged men and women to interact
Taxed men who did not cut their beards
Set up elementary schools in cities, 10 years later open universities

19. Built St. Petersburg on model of Western European cities

20. Russia Under Peter the Great

21. Images of Peter the Great

23. Catherine the Great (1729-1796)
Wife of Peter III (tsarina)
Born in Prussia
Learned Russian
Converted to Orthodox Christianity
Embraced Peter the Great’s ideas of westernization
Let boyars not pay taxes
Taxed peasants heavily

24. Russia Under Catherine the Great
Defeated Ottomans to gain land to Black Sea
1790s— partitioned Poland

25. Reform, then Repression
Initially open to reform
Art, literature and science
Greater local self-government
Legal reforms
Pugachev Rebellion, French Revolution led her to become more oppressive
Read Enlightenment thinkers works
Communicated with Denis Diderot
Passed “reforms” to lessen punishments on serfs
Abolished death penalty
Encouraged

26. Russian Life Orthodox Christianity eventually controlledby Tsar
Mostly agrarian
Most peasants tied to land,
Tsars created laws that backed land owners

28. Legacy
Russian absolutism created environment of social and political tensions that lasted into 20th century
Russia would continue to struggle with modernization
Absolutism would eventually fail as Russia moved toward socialism and communism in late 19th and early 20th centuries

29. Rise of Russia