1. Absolute Monarchy in Russia
Chapter 4 Section 5 pp

2. Peter the Great Peter was just 10 years old when he claimed the throne
Took control of government in 1689
Not very educated
Very curious
Spent hours in “German Quarter”
Moscow suburb where Dutch, Scottish, English, and other foreign artisans and soldiers lived
Heard of the advanced technology in Western Europe

3. Journey to the West 1697- Peter sent out to study western technology
Spent hours walking the streets of European cities
Visited factories and art galleries
Learned anatomy
A dentist taught him how to pull teeth
Peter was impressed by England’s parliament
Peter brought back a group of technical experts, teachers, and soldiers back to Russia
Embarked on policy of westernization
Russians weren’t easily persuaded
Peter became the most autocratic of Europe’s absolute monarchs

4. Autocrat and Reformer Peter pursued several related goals
Wanted to strengthen the military
Expand Russian borders
Centralized royal power
To achieve his goals, he brought all Russian institutions under his control
Including the Russian Orthodox Church
Forced boyars to serve the state in civilian or military jobs

5. Autocrat and Reformer cont.
Serfdom spread long after it had died out in Western Europe
Peter pushed through social and economic reforms
Imported western technology
Improved education
Simplified science and engineering
To pay for reforms, he adopted mercantilist policies
Like encouraging exports
Improved water-ways and canals, developed mining and textile manufacturing, backed new trading companies

6. Autocrat and Reformer cont.
Changes had symbolic meaning
Peter insisted boyars shave their beards
Forced them to replace their old-fashioned robes with Western European clothes
Ended the practice of secluding upper-class women in separate quarters
Held grand parties where women and men were expected to dace together
Russian nobles resisted the radical mixing of men and women in public
Peter had no mercy for those you resisted
Over 1,000 rebels were tortured and executed when elite palace guards revolted
As an example of his power, he left the rotting corpses outside the palace walls for months

7. Expansion Under Peter Peter worked to build Russian’s military power
Created the largest standing army in Europe
Set out to extend Russian borders to the west and south

8. Search for a Warm-Water Port
Russian seaports were frozen during the winter
Located in the Arctic Ocean
Peter wanted a warm-water port to increase Russia’s ability to trade with the West
Nearest warm-water port was located along the Black Sea
To gain control of this territory, he had to push through powerful Ottoman empire
Peter was unable to defeat them in the end
A later Russian monarch, Catherine the Great, would achieve that goal before the century ended

9. War With Sweden
1700- Peter began a long war against the kingdom of Sweden
Sweden dominated the Baltic region
Swedish force had only 8,000 men and defeated the Russian force which was five times its size
Peter rebuilt the army along western lines
1709- he defeated Swedes and won land to the Baltic Sea

10. Peter’s City
Peter built magnificent capital city on land won from Sweden
Called St. Petersburg
Located the city on the swampy shores of the Neva River near the Baltic coast
Wanted to open a window on the West
Forced tens of thousands of serfs to drain the swamps
Many died, but Peter got his city
Peter then invited Italian architects and artisans to design palaces in western style
St. Petersburg became a symbol of Peter’s desire to forge a modern Russia

11. Toward the Pacific
Russian traders and raiders crossed the plains and rivers of Siberia toward the Pacific
Russia sign a treaty with Qing China defining their common border in the east
Treaty recognized Russia’s right to lands north of Manchuria
Early 1700s- Peter hired the Danish navigator, Vitus Bering, to explore what was later known as the Bering Strait between Siberia and Alaska
Russian pioneers crossed into Alaska and migrated as far south as California
Not many Russians moved east of the Ural Mountains
Russia was already the largest country in the world, and still is

12. Legacy of Peter the Great
Peter died in 1725
Left behind a mixed legacy
He expanded Russian territory
Gained ports on the Baltic Sea
Created a better army
Ended Russia’s long period of isolation
From the 1700s on, Russia was increasingly involved in affairs of Western Europe
Many of his reforms died with him
Nobles soon ignored his policy of service to the state
Peter the Great brandished terror to enforce his power
Polices contributed to the growth of serfdom
Widened the gap between Russia and the West the Peter had sought to narrow

13. Catherine the Great Peter died without naming a successor
Set off power struggles
Catherine the Great took the throne
She was a German princess by birth
Came to Russia at 15 to wed the heir to the Russian throne
She learned Russian, embraced the Russian Orthodox faith, and won the loyalty of the people
1762- her mentally unstable husband, Czar Peter III, was murdered by a group of Russian army officers

14. An Efficient Ruler
Catherine proved to be an efficient and energetic empress
Reorganized the provincial government, codified laws, and began state-sponsored education for both girls and boys
She embraced western ideas
Encouraged French language and customs at court
Wrote histories and plays
Organized court performances
She was a serious student of the French thinkers who led the intellectual movement
Known as Enlightenment

15. A Ruthless Absolute Monarch
Catherine granted a charter to the boyars outlining rights
Such as exemption from taxes
When peasants rebelled, she took firm action to repress them
As a result, conditions grew worse for Russian peasants
Catherine was determined to expand Russia’s borders
Achieved Peter’s dream of a warm-water port on the Black Sea after a war against the Ottoman empire
Took steps to seize territory from Poland

16. Partition of Poland
Polish rulers were unable to centralize their power
The divided Polish government was ill prepared to stand up to Russia, Prussia, and Austria
1770’s- Catherine the Great, Frederick the Great, and Emperor Joseph II of Austria agreed to partition Poland
1772- Catherine took part of eastern Poland
Many Russians and Ukrainians lived there
Frederick and Joseph got lands to the west

17. Partition of Poland cont.
1793- Poland was partitioned again and for a third time in 1795
By that time Austria, Prussia, and Russia had taken the land they wanted
Poland had vanished from the map
1919- Free Polish state would reappear

18. Looking Ahead
Mid-1700s- Absolute monarchs ruled four of the five leading powers in Europe
Britain was the only exception
The five nations often ended up fighting to maintain the balance of power
Radical changes soon shattered the French monarchy, upset the balance of power, and revolutionized European societies

19. Vocabulary
Westernization- Adoption of Western Europe’s ideals and technology, as in Russia
Boyar- Russian Nobles
Warm-Water Port- Port free of ice all year long, Russia longed for this
Partitioned- to be Split Up

20. Review Questions What Russian Czar was 7ft tall? Peter the Great
What spread in Russia dealing with low class people that had been all but abolished in Europe? Serfdom
What was Peter the Greats new capital city? St. Petersburg
Who became the leader of Russia after her husband Peter III was assassinated? Catherine the Great
By the mid 1700s what was the only major country in Europe not ruled by an Absolute Monarch? Great Britain/England