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Russia’s Rise. Opening Discussion Prompt. Is Russia East or West? Explain. Growth of Muscovy 1300-1533. Growth of Muscovy 1300-1533. Russia’s Expansionist Politics Under the Tsars.
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Opening Discussion Prompt Is Russia East or West? Explain.
Growth of Muscovy 1300-1533 Growth of Muscovy 1300-1533
Russia’s Expansionist Politics Under the Tsars • Ivan III- Ivan the Great- a large part of Russia freed from Mongol control after 1462 and by 1480 Moscow completely free of Mongol control • Ivan organized strong army, giving government new military emphasis • Ivan III called Russia a third Rome and assumed the title Czar and centralized authority • Ivan IV- Ivan the Terrible- killed many boyars he suspected of conspiracy
Expansion and Contacts • Early expansion towards Central Asia • Recruited Cossacks (peasant adventurers) to settle in new lands • Incorporation of large Muslim minority- turning it into a multinational empire similar to Ottomans and Mughals • Ivan IV established commercial contacts with Britain and western merchants established outposts in Moscow and other Russian centers • Time of troubles- Ivan IV left no heir, so after his death there were power claims by the boyars and attacks from Poland and Sweden • 1613 member of the Romanov family chosen as tsar and the Romanov dynasty would rule until 1917
Russia’s First Westernization • Peter I continued policies of building tsarist control and expanding territory between 1689-1725 • Great Embassy to westernize Russia • Tsarist Autocracy of Peter the Great • Crushed revolts • No interest in parliamentary features of Holland and Great Britain- more interested in absolutist trend • Modernized the military • Recruited bureaucrats from outside noble ranks • Secret police • St. Petersburg (Sweden reduced to second-rate military)
What Westernization Meant • Russian navy • Eliminated old noble councils • Systematized law codes • Training institutes • Economics- built up the metallurgical and mining industries • Culturally – got rid of whip at marriage ceremony, Western dress • Imitation process- changes were selective- mostly affected elites • Some elite opposed incorporation of the west arguing that Russian traditions were superior- tension still today
Catherine the Great • After reading the book review of Robert Massie’s Catherine the Great, how would you describe her?
Consolidation under Catherine the Great • 1724 Peter died and period of weak rule ensued until 1761, when his nephew and wife, Catherine, a German princess came to the throne • Catherine the Great ruled after her husband’s death and continued earlier policies of expansion and consolidation • Pugachev rebellion- peasant uprising that she put down and used as an excuse to extend the powers of the central government in regional affairs
1762 Catherine the Great became empress • She was also a selective westernizer • She gave new powers to the nobility over their serfs • She patronized western art but closed the door to the French Revolution thinkers • Resumed campaigns against the Ottomans and got Crimea, claimed Alaska • Increased Russian interference with Polish affairs • Partition of Poland- 1772, 1793, 1795 agreements with Austria and Prussia eliminated ind. Poland • 1796 Catherine died
Serfdom: The Life of East Europe’s Masses • 17th-18th centuries power of the nobility over the serfs increased greatly. • By 1800 half of population serfs • 1649 – serfdom hereditary and close to slavery • Agriculture and growing economic subordination to the west (dependent relationships of exporting raw materials and importing manufactured goods) • 1785 law allowed landlords to punish harshly any serfs convicted of major crimes or rebellion
Trade and Economic Dependence • 95% population rural and really only 2 classes: serfs and landlords • But it did produce enough revenue to support expansion and population growth • Agricultural and manufacturing methods behind
Social Unrest • By end of 18th century recurring peasant rebellions and small number of western-oriented aristocrats calling for abolition of serfdom • Pugachev rebellion -1770s by Emelian Pugachev (imprisoned and executed by Catherine)
Russia and Eastern Europe • Fluctuating borderland of influence, where Poland and Bohemia (Czech rep.) oriented towards west and Hungary part of Hapsburgs • Poland- 1500 largest state in eastern Europe besides Russia ( Poland formed in 1386) By 1600 in decline. Lack of urban centers and merchant class, aristocratic parliament vetoed reforms • Poland partitioned by Catherine