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Russia: The Beginning

Russia: The Beginning. Muscovite Russia. Ivan IV. (aka: Ivan the Terrible). Became Grand Prince of Moscow at age 3 (1533) So who actually did the ruling? Boyars. Took the thrown as the Tsar of All Russia in 1547 Sounds fancy, doesn’t it? He meant for it to.

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Russia: The Beginning

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  1. Russia: The Beginning

  2. Muscovite Russia

  3. Ivan IV (aka: Ivan the Terrible) • Became Grand Prince of Moscow at age 3 (1533) • So who actually did the ruling? Boyars. • Took the thrown as the Tsar of All Russia in 1547 • Sounds fancy, doesn’t it? He meant for it to. • For the first part of his reign, he was Ivan the Relatively Decent. • Married Anastasia Romanova, which displeased the boyars • Significant reforms • Established a representative system to seek advice and input • Developed a legal code designed to eliminate corruption • Reorganized the military (reduced importance of social standing and replaced it with system based on rank, merit, and service) • The Council of Hundred Chapters (designed to regulate the Orthodox Church)

  4. Ivan the Terrible

  5. Ivan the Terrible at War • Launched expansionist attacks against neighbors • Dramatically expanded territory in the East • Failures in Expansion – Let’s go to the map • Livonia (modern-day Estonia and Latvia) • Conflict with the Crimean Tatars • Failures led to defection • Ivan gets paranoid (btw, historians think he might have been mentally ill) • Are the boyars plotting against him because he limited their power?! • Why won’t they swear allegiance to his son, Dmitrii?! • Why were the circumstances of his wife’s death so mysterious?!

  6. The Oprichnina (1565-1572) • Ivan (now he’s Terrible) fled Moscow in 1564 and threw a tantrum • Abdicated power • Denounced boyars • Stole money from the treasury • Broke with the Orthodox church • Said he’d only come back if they let him create an Oprichnina (separate government structure that he alone would control) • In 1565, he gets his own kindgom • Comprised initially of Moscow • Later more land is added

  7. The Oprichniki • Army of political police • Absolute allegiance to Ivan • Are you ready for the coolest detail? • Cloaked entirely in black and rode only black steeds • What did they do? • Destroyed enemies • Carried out Ivan’s political will • Purged his kingdom of treasonous nobles

  8. Ivan the Terrible: The Aftermath • Tortured, exiled, and executed tens of thousands of Russians • Ravaged Russia’s social structure • Devastated its economy • Created a power vacuum (killed or exiled so many powerful families) • Extensive property damage • Looting and random land confiscation discouraged agriculture • Famine • Distrust of the tsar

  9. Aftermath Continued • What happened to Ivan V? • Ivan the Terrible died in 1584 • His second son, Theodore took the throne • The problem with Theodore? • “Feeble in both intellect and body.”

  10. Tsar Theodore (1557-1598) • Ruled from 1584-1598. • He was weak and obsessed with religious ceremony.

  11. Boris Gudunov • 1551 – 1605 • Ruled as regent from1598 – 1605 • His sister married the tsar • Eliminated his enemies in royal council of advisors

  12. Boris Gudunov, Continued • Secured Russia’s prominence in the Orthodox Church • Got permission from the Patriarch of Constantinople to create a separate Patriarch of Moscow • Nice way to kiss up to the pious Theodore • Prince Dmitrii killed – foul play suspected. Why? • He was nine and his throat was slit. • But it meant that Theodore had no heirs • Gudunov kindly volunteered to step in and take care of the throne for a while

  13. The Time of Troubles (1598 – 1613) • What made them so troubling? • Famine (killed off 1/3 of Russian population) • Economic crisis • “Peasant flight” (side note: this could’ve been better phrased) • A succession crisis • No living biological heir to the throne • Numerous challenges to Gudunov’s rule • The Series of Faux Dmitriis • Poland found itself a faux Dmitrii and tried to install him as a puppet Tsar under its control • Faux Polish Dmitrii was in power briefly when Gudunov died but was put to death by PrinchVasiliShuisky

  14. The End of the Troubles • Polish and Swedish forces expelled in the winter of 1612 • ZemskiiSobor (early form of parliament) • Formed to establish a legitimate government • Elected Michael Romanov (and where did he come from?)

  15. Imperial Russia

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