Transcript Slide 1
Questions
• Illustrate the organization of the Dutch government • How did the Dutch government differ from the other Western European states?
• What were the attitudes of the Dutch toward religion and did those attitudes help or hinder the progress of the Netherlands?
Eastern European Absolutism
Ivan IV of Russia
Eastern Absolutism vs. Western Absolutism
• Re-emergence of serfdom
• 1. How did the plight of peasants and serfs in eastern Europe differ from those in western Europe after the Black Death?
• in western Europe labor shortages resulting from the plague led to higher wages for peasants and a reduction in feudal obligations for the serfs • in eastern Europe conditions worsened for peasants and serfs – the peasants’ freedom of movement was restricted – peasants’ land was taken and heavier labor obligations were imposed
• Political Relationships
• 2. In western Europe the conflict between the king and his vassals resulted in gains for the common man. Why did this not happen in eastern Europe?
• weak monarchs could not resist the demands of the powerful noble landlords • the absence of the western concept of sovereignty meant that the king did not think in terms of protecting the people of the nation • the lords rather than the kings controlled the courts • the medieval privileges of town and the power of the urban classes was systematically undermined – the lords sold directly to foreign capitalists instead of local merchants – eastern town lost their medieval right of refuge
Questions
• Why did serfdom hang on as a system of labor in Eastern and Central Europe?
• Why do the political and economics relationships of the Eastern European Kings and Nobility prevent the common man from making personal improvements?
• The Early years
Russia
• Influence of the Vikings • Influence of the Mongols in unifying the Slavs
• Tartars—descendants of the Mongols living in the Crimea • Eastern Orthodoxy—the eastern Slavs of Russia who were converted by missionaries from the Byzantine Empire to Orthodox Christianity • Kievan principality—the eastern Slavic territories were politically united under a single prince in the Middle Ages but disintegrated shortly after 1000 • boyard nobility—the land owning nobility in Russia • Ghengis Kahn—Mongol conqueror who temporarily unified the Mongols • Mongols—nomadic tribes from present-day Mongolia who conquered China, much of Asia, and reached the plains of Hungary in the west
• Golden Horde—the Mongol army • Mongol Yoke—ruled harshly over the eastern Slavs for over 200 years before being expelled by the Muscovite princes • Muscovite Russia—the second political unification of the eastern Slavs centered in Moscow • Tsar—Slavic contraction of “ceasar”; title taken by Russian autocrats • Autocracy—government in which one person has absolute power; dictatorship, despotism
Themes in Russian History
Expansion by conquest.
Need for warm-water ports.
The necessity of a strong, central government.
The Pendulum of Russian History
Pro-West For Progress & Change Encourage New Ideas, Technologies, etc.
A few Tsars Intellectual elites Merchants/businessmen Young members of the middle class.
Anti-West Isolationist Xenophobic Ultra-Conservative
Most Tsars Russian Orthodox Church Military Boyars peasants
REFORM-MINDED LEADER DEMAGOGUE
Early Russia
• 8. Explain how the princes of Moscow were able to establish preeminence among the Slavic princes?
• by cooperation with the Mongol khans – put down popular uprisings – collected taxes
The Mongols Invade Russia
Russia in the Late 1500s
Ivan “The Terrible” (r. 1533-1584)
Alexander Nevsky: 1220-1263
Battle on the Ice (Neva River) Against the Swedes Teutonic Knight
The leaders of Moscovy (Moscow) served the Mongols by as soldiers in the mongol army and collecting taxes and were rewarded with power, land, and prestige.
In the end they became so strong they were able to destroy all their rivals for power and in the end even replace the Kahn’s as the supreme rulers
Pictured here Ivan III prince of moscovy refuses to pay the tribute to the mongols
Ivan the Great
(r. 1462-1505)
Ivan III Tearing the Great Khan’s Letter Requesting More Tribute in 1480.
• 9. Explain the role of each of the following in establishing absolutism in Russia.
• Ivan III • defeated rival princes and consolidated power around Moscow • stopped acknowledging the khan as supreme • enhanced the idea of Moscow as the “Third Rome” by marrying the last Byzantine emperor’s daughter • conquered Novgorod, confiscated the land, and created a new “service nobility” • Ivan IV “the Terrible” • defeated the Mongol khanates of Kazan and Astrakhan, adding new territory to Russia • executed leading boyars, their relatives, and their peasants en masse • expanded the “service nobility” • bound peasants to the land and urban traders and artisans were bound to their towns • Ivan assumed that the tsar owned Russia’s trade and industry as well as the land
• Ivan III consolodated moscovite power by defeating took control of Novgorod, thereby reaching the Baltic Sea – He confiscated 80% of the land for himself and distributed the rest to nobles who swore to serve only him (service nobiltiy) • He became an absolute ruler called the Tsar (Caeser) – He saw himself as an Imperial ruler – He married the daughter of the last Byzantine Emperor – With the fall of Constantinople to the Turks in 1453 he saw himself as the heir to the
Ivan III
Novgorod
The Rise of Russia
Early Byzantine Influences: Orthodox Christianity
Early Byzantine Influences: Cyrillic Alphabet
Russian Boyars
Ivan IV
• Expanded the idea of the “service nobility”. – He abolished hereditary land ownership for the Boyars made all nobles serve him in order to hold land • Married Anastasia Romanov • Declared war on the remaining mongols and added vast new territory to Russia
• Ivan IV was called the “Terrible” for many reasons but first among them was the ruthless way he struck down those he blamed for his failures.
– Many of the Boyar’s and their families were executed by the Tsars special army of men dressed all in black and riding black horses • Secondly – He oppressed the common people and made them his virtual slaves • Third – He forced urban (city) merchants and craftmen to remain bound to their towns and jobs so he could tax them.
– He felt that he the Tsar owned Russia’s trade and industry just as he owned all the land
• ALL THE PEOPLE WERE CONSIDERED SLAVES OF THE PRINCE • RUSSIAN ABSOLUTISM WAS FUNDAMENTALLY DIFERENT FROM THAT PRACTICED IN WESTERN EUROPE – THE ONLY COMPAREABLE SYSTEM WAS THAT OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE
• Many of the Common people fled and formed free groups and outlaw armies called “Cossacks” who maintained independence beyond the reach of the Tsar.
Ivan IV
• Ivans role in the establishment of Absolutism in Russia
• Time of Troubles—an era of chaos that began when Ivan IV’s son died without an heir • a power struggle between the close relatives of the deceased tsar • invading Swedes and Poles occupied Moscow • Cossack uprising demanding freedom of movement, reduced taxes, and better treatment from landlords • Michael Romanov—emerged from the Time of Troubles as Russia’s new hereditary tsar; the Romanov dynasty reigned uninterrupted until the revolutions of 1917
• Third Rome—after the fall of Constantinople (second Rome) the tsars saw themselves as the heirs of both the ceasars and Orthodox Christianity • service nobility—a “new” nobility created by the tsars; they held the tsars land on the condition that they remained loyal to the tsar and served in the tsar’s army • Cossacks—run away peasants and poor nobles of Polish and Russian descent who lived in autonomous communities in southern Russia • Stenka Razin—Cossack leader who led a rebellion of urban poor and peasants against the government of the tsars
• Archbishop Nikon—introduced reforms in the Russian Orthodox Church to bring practices in line with the Greek Orthodox Church, creating a schism • Old Believers—resisted reforms of Nikon; considered him the antichrist; were hunted down and executed; as many as 20,000 burned themselves alive • Great Northern War (1700-1721)—Russia defeats Sweden; becomes the dominant power on the Baltic Sea; Russia gains status as a European Great Power • St. Petersburg—built by Peter the Great, gave Russia a “window on Europe”; became the new capital of Russia
Romanov Dynasty
(1613-1917) Romanov Family Crest
Michael Romanov
(r. 1613-1645) c c The Romanov dynasty is established.
The only Russian royal family lasted for 304 years!
Romanov Dynasty
(1613-1917)
Michael Romanov
• 16 yr old nephew of Ivan IV.
– Elected by the nobles – Ended “Time of Troubles” where nobles feuded with each other and invasions came from Cossacks / Swedes – Was a true restoration of the Tsars authority
Peter the Great
(r. 1682-1725)
Peter I (The Great)
• He was 6’ 9” tall • He was interested in Modernizing Russia – Primarily interested in military technology which could be used to expand the Empire – He ruled for 36 years and had only one year of peace.
• 10. Identify the achievements and reforms of Peter the Great.
• expanded Russian territory into Ukraine • required the nobility to serve in the army or civil administration for life • modernized the army and made Russia a great power • created schools and universities to train technicians for the army • required 5 years of compulsory education for young noblemen • established an interlocking military—civilian bureaucracy and rewarded merit • increased service requirements for commoners in the army, factories and mines • increased taxes on peasants • borrowed western technology and hired western advisors • expanded Russian territory to the Baltic Sea
Peter Cuts the Beards of His Boyars
Execution of the Streltsy
Battle of Poltava
(1709)
Russia & Sweden After the Great Northern War
Russia Under Peter I
Lands added by Peter the Great
• 12. Describe how the construction and the settlement of St. Petersburg were typical of Russian autocracy.
• the government drafted peasants to build the city without pay and a special tax was levied to feed the workers • nobles and merchants were drafted to move to the new city – they were also required to pay for much of the construction
Peter the Great
• Peter the Greats role in Russian Absolutism
Periods from 1500 to the present:
• 1500-1660 – dominated by the issue of what to believe in religion [the 1st estate]; • 1661-1789 – dominated by the issue of the mode of government [the 2nd estate]; • 1790-present – dominated by the issue of social and economic equality [the 3rd estate].
– from Barzun, Jacques, From Dawn to Decadence, Perennial, 2000, p.xxi.
Russia Today
Former Soviet Region Compared in Latitude & Area with the United States
Rich Soil of the Steppes
Chernozen
Soil
Siberia
“Permafrost”
A former “
gulag ”
Soviet prison camp.
Average temperatures of January vary from 0 to -50 ° C, and in July from 1 to 25 ° C 150,000,000 population.