Was Russia more Eastern or Western?

Was Russia more Eastern or Western?

The Setting• Trade routes formed from Byzantine Empire along major rivers (Dnieper) to Baltic Sea

beginning in 900s CE.

• Most people lived either in the steppe of southeast Europe or the forest plains of northeast Europe.

The People of Eastern Europe• Western Slav

– Today’s ethnic groups

• Poles, Czechs, Slovaks

– Lived in the marshlands, plains, and mountains of east-central Europe

– Fought the Germans to west, Scandinavians to north for control of land

– Tied more with the Roman Catholic Church and Western Europe

•Southern Slav

– Significant contact with the Byzantine culture to the south

– Settled in the Balkan Peninsula

– Today’s ethnic groups

• Serbs, Croats, Slovenes

– Shaped by Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church

– Bosnians

• Influenced Ottomans who were….

– Muslim

• Eastern Slav

– Settled north of Black Sea

– Traded with Byzantine Empire and northern Europe

– Moved toward Volga River between 500 CE to 80 CE

– Today’s ethnic groups

• Ukrainians, Russians, Belarussians

The Beginnings of Kievan Rus• Eastern Slavs of northern Europe

– Asked help of Vikings to bring order to northern forests

• Rurik, a Viking, accepted invitation and ruled region around 860 CE

– Slavs called region Rus

Packers stink!!!

The rise of Kiev• Prince Oleg

– Successor to Rurik in 880 CE

– Conquered village of Kiev to south

• City built near where forest meets steppe on Dnieper River

– Oleg was able to dominate water trade routes

» Spread influence throughout region

– Became known as Kievan Rus

Kievan government• Made up of city-states and

principalities

– Principalities

• Ruled by princes

• City-states and principalities had own government but paid special respect to the Grand Prince in Kiev

• Princes were assisted by assemblies made up of wealthy merchants and boyars.

– Boyars

• Nobles who owned land

The climax of Kiev

• Kievan princes raided Byzantine capital of….

– Constantinople

• Treaty in 911 CE ended raids and opened up trade and influence with Byzantine Empire

• Vladimir adopted Eastern Orthodox faith when Kievan prince witnessed Eastern Orthodox ceremony at Hagia Sophia in 989 CE.

– Further isolated Eastern Slavs from Western Europe

• Kiev flourished under the leadership of Vladimir’s son, Yaroslav

– Ruled from 990 CE to 1015 CE

– Established library and legal system based on Justinian Code

The fall of Kiev

• After Yaroslav’s rule (1019 CE), disputes over who should rule resulted.

• Allowed Mongols to capture Kiev and destroyed it in 1240s CE.

• Slavic population conquered and ruled by foreign invaders– Mongols

• Conquered Kievan state in 1200s– Ruled Russia for almost 200

years– Allowed Slavs to practice

own culture– Helped further isolate

Eastern Slavs from Western Europe

• Mongols did help Eastern Slavs to unify

– Appointed prince that would serve desires of Mongols

– Allowed Muscovite prince to gain power over other princes

Riga

• Latvia

Moscow

• Russia

Prague

• Czech Republic

Budapest

• Hungary

Bucharest

• Romania

Sofia

• Bulgaria

Belgrade

• Serbia

Ljubljana

• Slovenia

Zagreb

• Croatia

Pristina

• Kosovo

Skopje

• Macedonia

Kiev

• Ukraine

Minsk

• Belarus

Warsaw

• Poland

Bratislava

• Slovakia

Vilnius

• Lithuania

Talinn

• Estonia

Sarajevo

• Bosnia-Herzegovina

Tirane

• Albania

Chisinau

• Moldova

Podgorica

• Montenegro

What do you know about Russia?• What was the title of the Russian leader called?

• Can you name some previous Russian leaders?

• What normally happens when 1 family rules for many years? What can we infer from history?

Things to do as a European Monarch

• Gain more land• Gain control of that land

– Centralize the power• Decisions of the state made by King• Study ancient Roman law to gain more control

– “salus populi suprema lex» “the welfare of the people is the highest law.”

• Undermine nobility’s power• Unite the culture of the region

Russian Aristocrat / Mongol servants

• Ivan I (1328-41)

– Strengthened Duchy of Moscow by forcing many to live in or near city

• Known as “money bag” since he was entrusted with collecting taxes for Mongols

Russian Aristocrat / Mongol servants

• Ivan III (1462-1505)

– Tsar becomes hereditary position

– Stopped acknowledging the Mongol khan as supreme leader

– Assumed headship of Russian Orthodox Church

• Moscow became known as the 3rd Rome with the fall of….

– Constantinople

Russian Aristocrat / Mongol servants

• Ivan III (1462-1501)

– Tsar becomes hereditary position

– Stopped acknowledging the Mongol khan as supreme leader

– Assumed headship of Russian Orthodox Church

• Moscow became known as the 3rd Rome with the fall of….

– Constantinople

– Acquired more territory around Moscow

• Novogorod

– Consisted of area north to Baltic Sea and Ural Mountains to east

• What events influenced Ivan IV as a boy?

• Ivan the Terrible (Ivan IV)

– 1533 to 1584

– Expanded Russian lands south of Moscow into Siberia

– Ruthless leader

• Forbade businessmen to leave town.

• Murdered boyars (Russian nobility) and confiscated their lands.

• Formed secret police

• Many peasants fled his rule

– Peasants formed outlaw armies known as Cossacks.

• Took over all the country’s most important businesses.

Quit laughing!! Don’t you know that hurts my

babushka?

Chechnya - A Republic of Russia

Time of Troubles

• 1598-1613• No heir to Russian throne• Tsars fought each other• Swedes and Poles invade• Cossack bands slaughtered nobles and officials• Nobles elected Michael Romanov in 1613 • Romanov rule

– Tsarist autocracy returned to Russia– Obligations for nobility were relaxed– Nobles tightened hold over peasants

• Led to Cossack revolt which was defeated by government in 1670s

• Led to enserfment of many peasants – Russian serfs could be sold without land

be sold

In the time of Troubles by Sergey Ivanov

– Feudalism• Political system established when there was a lack of order in

Europe after fall of Roman Empire• People feared attack from Vikings, Muslims, Magyars, bandits, etc.• People known as peasants asked for protection from landowners…

known as…..– Nobles/lords and in Russia they were known as boyars.

– Many of the peasants in Russia were known as serfs– Serfs

• People who could not lawfully leave a place where they were born.• They were bound to land—but were not slaves.

– Lords could not sell or buy them

• Manor– Lord’s estates

» Lord provided serf with housing, strips of land, and protection from bandits

» Serfs tended land, tended animals, performed tasks to maintain estates.

» Serfs had to pay % of annual harvest to lord / noble

» Basically, serf was the permanent work force of the lord/noble

» This was known as the manorial system

Peter the Great

Land of Czars DVD, “Peter the Great”

1.What were the characteristics of Peter?

2.What kind of Russia did Peter the Great and his half-brother Ivan V inherit?

3.Why was it difficult for Russia to trade and establish a navy? 

4.What kind of leader was Peter? 

5.How did Peter “shatter” Russian traditions?

6.How did Peter view Russia when he returned from Western Russia?

You’re kinda of

tall for an old dude.

Peter’s attempts at gaining autocratic rule in Russia

• Ruled from 1689-1725

• Emphasized that all work should be done for the common good of Russia

• Demanded all members of nobility to serve in military or hold a civil offices

• Established bureaucracy which was a meritocracy

– Set up the Table of Ranks—fourteen ranks

– All start at bottom and must work toward raising rank.

– Dealt with following departments: finance, army, foreign affairs

– Not carried on by future Russian czars

• Used fear

– Use of torture, executions to threaten dissent

• Executed own son for possible treason

• Brought Russian Orthodox Church under state control

– Abolished office of patriarch—the head of the church

– Set up Holy Synod• Body that made decisions for

church

• Modernized military– Feared Poles, Turks, Swedes

– Desired to obtain warm water seaport

– Hold heterogeneous, expansive Russia together

Russian military

• “Westernized” army / military

– Established navy

– Created professional soldiers that served the king

– Required landholders to join army or serve as a civil servant

• Nobility were made officers

• Peasants were made soldiers

– By his death, Russian military numbered over 200,000

Peter’s military campaigns• Only one year of peace during

rule

• Great Northern War

– Against Sweden and Charles XII

• One of the best armies in Europe

• Occupied whole eastern shore of

– Baltic Sea

– 1701-1721

– Ended in Russian victory

– Russia annexed Estonia and Latvia

– Became dominant power on Baltic Sea

Establishment of new capital

• Defeat of Sweden

– Russia gained piece of Baltic coast

– Established city of St. Petersburg

• Peter required wealthy (nobles) to build mansions in city

• Peasants required to help build city resulting in thousands of deaths

Westernization of Russia

• Allowed women to attend social gatherings• Adopted mercantilism• Set up Russian Academy of Sciences• Brought foreign artists, engineers, and

shipbuilders• Children of nobility sent to gain foreign

education• Established code of behavior

– Don’t spit on floor– Don’t scratch oneself at dinner– Cut beards, cutting coats at knees

I would never be able to

live in 18th Century Russia.

Impact of Peter’s rule

• New ideas from Western Europe

– Lowest classes not exposed to it

– Many distrusted new ways due to forceful way Peter force it on people

• 4/5 of Russian revenues went toward military

– Russia has become a military power

– Peter taxed almost everything

• Beard trimming, water, cellars, coffins, right to marry

That will be $10 in beard tax!