Transcript The Rise of Russia - Christian Brothers High School

3 GEOGRAPHIC REGIONS
The northern forests have poor soil and cold climates.
A band of fertile land in the south held good farmland and was the home of Russia’s
first civilization.
The southern steppe is an open, treeless grassland perfect for grazing and migration
between Asia and Europe.
SLAVS, VIKINGS, AND THE ORIGINS OF RUSSIA
The Slavs migrated from Asia in to southern Russia.
Vikings came from Scandinavia and entered Russia by way of the Russian rivers.
 The city of Kiev was a key center of trade. The city eventually became the capital of early
Russia.
 Russia originated in 862 when a Viking tribe called the Rus began to rule Novgorod in the
north.
ORIGINS OF RUSSIA
In the 800s Constantinople sent Christian missionaries to Russia.
 Two Orthodox monks named Cyril and Methodius developed Cyrillic, the Russian
alphabet.
 During the reign of Rus king Vladimir, the Rus aligned with the Byzantines and
Orthodox Christianity became their official religion.
MONGOLS
Between 1236 and 1241 the Mongols moved into Russia.
 Batu originally led the Mongols, but Genghis Khan(World Emperor) was the most
dominant leader.
 The Mongol army was known as the Golden Horde. They advanced into Kiev and ruled
Russia for 150 years. Under Mongol rule Christianity was tolerated, Russian princes were
forced to pay tribute, acknowledge the Mongol leaders as their overlords , and trade
increased.
 A negative aspect of the Mongol’s rule was that Russia was cut off from the learning
stemming from Western Europe.
MOSCOW TAKES THE LEAD
In 1380 Russian princes regained control of Russia by defeating the Golden Horde at
the Battle of Kulikovo.
Ivan III, or Ivan the Great, ruled Russia from 1462 to 1505.
 Ivan the Great brought much of northern Russia under his control.
 He limited the power of the Russian nobles known as boyars. Ivan referred to
himself as tsar, the Russian term for Caesar.
MOSCOW TAKES THE LEAD
Ivan IV was the grandson of Ivan the Great.
 Ivan IV’s bad reputation caused him to be known as Ivan the Terrible.
 He was the 1st Russian ruler officially crowned as tsar.
 Ivan the Terrible used a secret group called the oprichniki to squash rebellious
nobles and keep Russian citizens in line.
 Bad decisions led to instability and violence during his reign as tsar.