Transcript The Russian Empire 1500 -1750

The Russian Empire
1500 -1750
Princes of Moscovy finally had more than enough of paying tribute to a weakening
Mongol rule from the Golden Horde. Soon, their newly conquered lands were larger
than that of the Golden Horde. Great military leaders like Ivan the Terrible (IV) as see
below were what the new Russian world needed to get rid of the Mongol grip.
Here, we see what happens when jealousy and rage can happen from an emperor to
his subject, or from a father to his son.
The Ural Mountains kind of divide up Russia. To the West, you have European
Russia. To the East of the Ural Mnts., you have Asian Russia.
Siberia
Russia first goes to Siberia to make
money. Why?
1. It is the path of least
resistence…that is it is not Occupied
Europe.
2. They have pelts there.
These pelts can be brought back over
the Ural mnts and sold to Europe.
The Mink
Just like the French were making a
killing in the fur industry, the Russians
were poised to jump in this service as
well.
The mink (Pictured right) had soft,
dense fur so as to be able to live
through the cold winters.
Very desirable back West.
Russians and their hats
A sore spot for many centuries….
“Do we wear the hats that
make us look Mongol?”
“Do we go cold and look
like the West?”
The Cossacks
A great example of how people were
mixing with one another and still
speaking Russian and still a member of
the Orthodox Church.
The Cossacks lived south of Moscow
and just north of the Caspian and
Black seas. Their trade/protection
would go to the highest bidder.
Superior horsemen, they are an
example of European/Mongol/Asian.
Peter the Great
1689 - 1725
• Greatest of the Romonav Tsars
• He turned Russia away from Asian ideals and brought
them into the European Renaissance ideals.
• How?
– Hundreds of foreign merchants were in Moscow by the
time he took the throne
– Soldiers were trained the western way with guns, new
weapons and techniques
– Italian architects had modified many churches and public
buildings throughout
Legal Protector of Orthodox Christians
• Tried to secure a warm seaport in the Black
Sea by using a navy to Blockade the Ottomans.
• How to get powerful like the West?
• Trade: Generates money to spend of weapons
• Toleration: Gets talented people into your country who
are fleeing persecution
Rest of Europe and their view on
Russia?
• Had to recognize Russia after they defeated
their naval adversary, Sweden.
• Baltic Sea was now open for Russia to trade
with the rest of Europe
• Europe was impressed with his building of St.
Petersburg after the baroque style of France
Peter the Great’s Social Changes
• Men need to:
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•
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Cut hair
Wear western clothes
Bring wives to social functions
Educate your children
Put the “stick” away when you get married
Politically
• Copy the Prussian (German) Empire
– Do away with the Boyars
– Get a group of advisors
*Rule autocratically just like the rest of the rulers in
the Western Europe were doing
– Still had officers and generals, but they were now
promoted due to merit, not birth
– Bring more autonomous power to the King
– Bring the Church under his rule, too.
Copy European Production
(Economics)
• Build Factories
• Iron and Copper foundries…this provides munitions
for his armies
• Increased burdens of taxation on the Serfs
• Increased forced labor on the Serfs
• Had no intention of improving the working
conditions
• Unlike other West. Euro. countries Russia was treating their
peasants as their major labor source. Russia had zero colonies or
slaves or natives to use as laborers.
Catherine the Great
Catherine the Great
1762 - 1769
• Continued the policies of Peter the Great
– Promoted Industry
– Built canal systems to promote trade
– Huge in Furs, also traded: gold, iron, and timber
– Continued to westernize the elite through
Education
Russia is Massive
• Partitioned parts of Poland…this advances
Russia towards the West some 600 miles
• As far as Alaska in the East (where do you
think they got the furs?)
• Barents Sea in the Sea
• Black Sea in the South
So... how did the Mongols influence
the people called Russians
• Peter and Catherine ruled with zero tolerance
and alone? …Sound Familiar?
• Those who can’t say “no” must Pay and Pay
and Pay…sound familiar?
• “We must expand our borders so as to be
close to our neighbors for trade and
war!”…sound familiar?
Winter Palace: Built by the Daughter of Peter the Great after his death and during her rule. In St.
Petersburg. A Great example of Baroque architecture.
Versailles in Moscow?