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Russia's monarchs
RELIGION

Russian Orthodox Church ("Eastern Orthodox")
Offshoot of Greek Orthodox, Byzantine Empire (eastern Roman Empire)
Christianity brought by Byzantine missionaries
Brothers Saints Cyril and Methodius
St. Cyril introduced the written language (Cyrillic) to make it easier to translate the Bible into the local language.
Russia was considered the "Third Rome" (Rome, Constantinople)
Head of Russian Orthodox Church was the Patriarch
Church became divided: upper classes and peasants
Peasants began to see the church as another tool for repression.
Peter the Great's Reforms
Put Church under committee of bishops called the Holy Synod
At head of Holy Synod was a non-clergyman, a Procurator, appointed by Peter.
More traditional Russians, the Old Believers, rebelled unsuccessfully.
Orthodox Church became an instrument of the Russian government.
RUSSIAN PEOPLE
Tatars - Descendants of the Mongols
Cossacks -- Independent people from Volga and Black Sea, known for military skill
Rose up under Cossacks Stenka (Stepan) Razin (1670) and Pugachev (1773).
Boyars -- nobles
Serfs -- peasants bound to the land of the Boyars
Streltsy -- Hereditary Russian guardsmen, they rebelled against Peter in 1689.
Tsars (or Czars)-- From word "Caesar" - Russian emperors until 1917
KIEVAN RUS (862-1240)
RURIK (862-879)
Branch of Varangians (Vikings)
First leader of Rus
Established himself in Novgorod
St. Cyril and Methodius (brothers)
In 863 the Byzantine missionaries created Slavic alphabet (Cyrillic) and translated Bible into Slavic language
OLEG (879-882)
Moved capital to Kiev
Created "Kievan Rus"
Became Grand Prince of Kiev and Grand prince of Novgorod
11th c. Rus states fragmented into principalities.
VLADIMIR THE GREAT (r. 980-1015)
Golden Age of Kievan Rus
Pact with Byzantine Emperor Basil II
Basil gave his sister in marriage in exchange for conversion to Christianity
Vladimir accepted Orthodox Christian faith.
First written legal code
Mongols invaded in 1240

MONGOL CONQUEST
Grand Duchy of Moscow
1240, Mongols (Batu Khan) conquered Kievan Rus, burned to ground
Mongols didn't occupy Russia, created tributary system (Golden Horde)
Resulted in the growth of Grand Duchy of Moscow (1283-1547)
Local Russian princes collected tribute for Mongols
Prince of Moscow took over territories that failed to pay Mongols
Moscow became seat of Orthodox leaders
Influence of Mongol rule on Russia
Separated Russia from the rest of Europe.
Russians became Greek Orthodox
Geography made communication with West difficult.
Cultural isolation, fell behind West (no Renaissance)
Economic isolation
Serfdom
Created because peasants needed protection from Mongols
Growth of church
Muslim Mongols didn't force conversion.
Orthodox church = identity and comfort
Art --> iconography and fresco painting
Metropolitan became head of Orthodox Church
Division of East Slavic people
Russia, Ukraine, Belarus
Language (Mongol words in Russian language)
Ivan I, Grand Prince of Moscow (r. 1325-1340)
Chief intermediary between Mongol overlords and Rus lands
FIRST TSARS
IVAN IV "THE TERRIBLE" (1533-1584)
Added to authority of tsars
Destroyed power of Mongols and conquered parts of Siberia
Became first "Tsar of All Russias" in 1547
Followed by Time of Troubles
TIME OF TROUBLES (1598-1613)
Ivan's feeble son, Fyodor, wasn't fit to rule
And left no successors after his death in 1598
Nobles (boyars) vied for control against weak tsars.
ROMANOVS
17th CENTURY
MICHAEL ROMANOV (R. 1614-1645)
Elected by a group of leading nobles in 1613 to end Time of Troubles.
Began Romanov dynasty which ruled to 20th c.
ALEXIS I (R. 1645-1676)
Law Code of 1649
Merged peasants and slaves into a class of serfs
Gave landowning nobility the power to treat them as property
Revolts
1640s and early 1670s = revolts by lower classes against landowners.
1670s revolts of Cossacks (free warrior) led by Stenka (Stepan) Razin
Fighting only boyars and wealthy lords
Stenka Razin's army joined by peasants and urban poor.
Defeated by Russian soldiers
Razin was tortured and killed.
18TH CENTURY
PETER THE GREAT (1689-1725)
Shared rule with his disabled half-brother Ivan V until Peter was 16
Great Embassy (1697-1698)
Peter was enamored with the West
Went on diplomatic tour of Western Europe
Copied Western politics, customs, technology
Brought 1000 foreign experts for service in Russia
Streltsy Revolt 1698
In 1682 the streltsy tried to prevent Peter the Great from coming to power
Peter limited the political and military influence of the streltsy (guards).
While Peter was in Europe, the streltsy revolted, Peter crushed them brutally
Power over Nobles
Peter forced nobles to serve 25 years in military or civil service
Ranked nobles according to their service to the tsar (Table of Ranks, 1712)
Nobility had to get an education (Peter, himself, simplified Cyrillic alphabet)
Forced nobles to adopt Western dress, hairstyles and etiquette
Peter wrote book of etiquette
Cut beards (or pay beard tax), shorten sleeves etc.
Duma and national assembly
Was replaced by a "senate" which was controlled by the tsar.
Power over church
Put Orthodox Church under a committee of bishops called the Holy Synod
At head of Holy Synod was a non-clergyman, a Procurator, appointed by Peter.
Orthodox Church became an instrument of the Russian government
More traditional Russians, the Old Believers, rebelled unsuccessfully.
Economics
Raised money by multiplying taxes (mainly on peasants)
Made serfdom more universal.
Encouraged mercantilist policies
Formed commercial companies (with help from foreign advisers) using government capital and labor supply of serfs
Foreign policy
Military
Peter imported military advisers.
Built a standing army in 1699 with over 200,000 soldiers.
Created a navy by 1725 (48 ships)
Military wore uniforms, equipped with Western weapons
Nobility required to serve as officers
Peter raised taxes to pay for the military (in 1718, a "soul tax" on all males except clergy and nobility, Old Believers paid double)
Lacked warm-water access to West
Tried to seize lands bordering Black Sea (ruled by Ottomans) but not successful
Then turned toward Sweden
Great Northern War (1700-1721)
Battle of Poltava (1709) Russians destroyed Swedish army (wounded Swedish king Charles XII)
Treaty of Nystad (1721) got Swedish Baltic provinces and some Polish territories
St. Petersburg
Built St. Petersburg ("window to the West") in new Baltic territory
Forced nobles to live there.
Moscow, the center of opposition to modernization, left behind.
Succession
Tortured his son and successor, Alexis, to death
Legacy
By Peter's death 1725, Russia was a major player on the European stage.

AFTER PETER THE GREAT
Mediocre rulers from 1725-1762
Landowning elite grew wealthier than ever
ELIZABETH (1741-1762)
Domestic policy
Nobles allowed to gain dominance in local government
And terms of service shortened
Built Winter Palace
Didn't execute anyone during her reign
Foreign policy
Entered War of Austrian Succession (1740-1748)
And Seven Years War (1756-1763)
To lessen power of Prussia
PETER III (1762)
Peter the Great's grandson, nephew to Elizabeth
Raised in Germany (barely spoke Russian)
Domestic policy
Ended 25-year mandatory service for nobles
Mandated obligatory education for aristocrats.
Proclaimed religious freedom
Abolished secret police
Made killing serfs a crime
Foreign policy
Pro-Prussia (admired Frederick the Great)
Withdrew Russian forces from Seven Years War to support Prussia against Austria
Deposed and assassinated (probably because of conspiracy led by his wife, Catherine II)
CATHERINE THE GREAT (r. 1762-1796)

Ended decades of weak leadership
Obscure princess from German state
Married Peter III (r. 1762)
Tyrannical, dumb grandson of Peter Great
Catherine conspired with group of aristocratic army officers to assassinate husband Peter III.
Enlightened Despot
Corresponded with Diderot, Voltaire and other philosophes
Nobles
Catered to nobles because of questions about her legitimacy
Made advancement up Peter's Table of Ranks automatic after seven years regardless of merit
Convened legislative commission
To reform Russia's legal code
Half were commoners (some peasants)
Instruction (1767) – equality before law, abolition of torture etc.
But only minor reforms before abandoned
Pugachev Rebellion 1774
Insurrection of Cossacks led by Yemelyan Pugachev
Pugachev proclaimed an end to serfdom
Largest peasant revolt in Russia's history
Defeated by Catherine
Foreign Expansion
Defeated Ottoman Turks in 1774
Extending Russia to the Black Sea and Balkan Peninsula
Poland (then 3rd largest country in Europe)
3rd largest country in Europe
But weak
No natural boundaries
No strong central government.
No allies
1772 Russia, Prussia and Austria took slices of Polish territory (1st Partition)
---- under construction ----
19TH CENTURY
ALEXANDER I (r. 1801-1825)
Napoleon
Russia suffered from Continental system
Napoleon invaded – grand army of 60,00
Russian army retreated into interior
Battle of Borodin,
Russians made a stand – one of bloodiest battles of 19th c. 80,000 casualties
French won battle but failed to destroy Russia’ forces
Moscow
Alex. I refused to capitulate – fire destroyed much of Moscow leaving invaders without enough shelter or supplies to ride out Russian winter.
10s of 1000s of French froze, starved o captured by Cossacks.
Attended Congress of Vienna (1 of 4 victors against Napoleon)
Conceived of Holy Alliance (with Austria and Prussia)
To safeguard principles of Christianity
Three bastions of conservatism
Also Quadruple Alliance (aka Concert of Europe)
For perpetuating the Vienna settlement
Stability (maintaining the balance of power)
And legitimacy (territories under control of old ruling houses of the traditional order)
Conservatism in Russia
Russia vast agricultural nation, feudal social structure, tiny urban bourgeoisie.
Orthodox Church
dominated by upper clergy from aristocracy
served as arm of govt.
REFORMS
Alex. I first open to reform (like granting Poles a constitution and proclaiming religious toleration)
Later more reactionary system) resumed religious repression
Employed secret police, censorship
Fell under influence of Metternich in international affairs and own aristocratic magnates at home
Decembrists
Younger Russian nobles who had been educated in Western Europe and influence by the Enlightenment
As well as Russian army officers who had occupied France after 1815
Hoped to see Alexander’s brother Constantine become the next tsar
Dreamed of a more Westernized government with a constitution and even freedom of serfs
Formed secret societies to work toward those goals.
Constantine, though,
Had already given up his right to the throne in favor of his brother Nicholas I
Alexander died suddenly in 1825
NICHOLAS I (1825-1855)
Austere autocrat, discipline, authority
Crushed the Decembrists
(young liberal military officers hoping to write a constitution and free the serfs, considered liberal martyrs)
Then turned against any hints of liberalism
Demanded submission of everyone to the autocracy and to the Orthodox Church
ALEXANDER II
Russia reputation as most conservative of Europeans powers
Government remained autocratic under tsar, feudalistic society
SOCIAL CLASSES
Nobility
Romanov
Law Code of 1649 = landowning nobility power to treat serfs as property.
Peter
Forced to serve state, cut beards, study abroad
Bureaucratic system applied
Rise through ranks by merit only
After Peter the Great
Mediocre rulers from 1725-1762
Landowning elite grew wealthier than ever
Nobility took back some of the authority it had lost to Peter
1762 Nobles freed themselves of all obligations to state (still staffed bureaucracy and military officer corps)
Nobles cracked down even more on serfs
Catherine the Great
Needed nobility because of her legitimacy issues
Middle Class
Peasants
97% of population, serfs in worst condition in Europe
Law Code of 1649 (Michael Romanov, 1613-1645)
Merged peasants and slaves into a class of serfs
Gave landowning nobility the power to treat them as property.
1660s, 1670s lower classes rebelled against landowners and officials, killed them, looted
Revolt of Cossacks (free warriors) led by Stenka Razin against boyars
Peter the Great (1689-1725)
After Peter the Great
Nobles freed of obligations to state
Nobles cracked down even more on serfs, reducing their status to mere property
1767 Decree on Serfs “serfs and peasants…owe landlords proper submission and absolute obedience in all matters”
Catherine the Great
Early talks of easing burdens on peasantry came to little
In return for support of noble landowners, she allowed them to subjugate the peasants even further.
Pugachev rebellion (1773) stopped her from reforming feudal institution
Alexander II
Feudalistic society still bound serfs to land and their lords
Crimean War 1853 - 1856 (Russia v. Ottoman Turks)
France, Britain and Piedmont-Sardinia joined Ottoman Turks
Peasant revolts and workers protests had plagued Russia
Only Russia still allowed serfdom which left millions tied to the land
Serfs deeply resented labor and dues owed for right to farm lands
1825-1855 more than 500 serf rebellions, food shortages, aristocrats took little responsibility for suffering of their serfs
Serfs in Russia’s armies lacked enthusiasm.
Alexander’s “Great Reforms”
1861 freed Russia’s 22 million serfs
Few years later, 25 million state-owned peasants
“better to abolish serfdom from above than wait until serfs begin to liberate themselves from below.
Serfs not fully independent and self-sufficient
Receive poorest land, owed payments for land and freedom, tied by collective ownership to their village commune, the mir whose elected officials assigned parcels of land and determined what could be planted
Local political assemblies (zemstva) with elected officials, encouraged primary and secondary education by opening 1000s of new schools and reduce military service